Phenomenal Foods

Today's Phenomenal Food is:

Kale!

Kale is delicious! I love it in salads, in smoothies, and just cooked by itself. I've been making my breakfast smoothies for a little over a week now, and kale is by far my favorite greens to make them with. Spinach is good, but kale is sweeter and doesn't have stringy bits that don't get completely blended. My favorite combination so far is: 1/2 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, 1 cup of Trop 50 orange juice, 2 cups of kale (blend first 3 ingredients until smooth first before adding the frozen fruit), 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries, and 1/2 cup of frozen mangos (with some chia seeds added in for that extra omega-3). It's really sweet and really filling!

According to an article called Kale: Natural Weight-Loss Food from health.howstuffworks.com, "For a green, kale is unusually high in fiber. This helps create the bulk you need to fill you up and to keep you full for a good amount of time. Kale is also an excellent source of nutrients, especially vitamin A and calcium. With a combination of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, kale is a dieter's dream food."

It also says, "Not only is it one of your best sources of beta-carotene, one of theantioxidants believed by many nutrition experts to be a major player in the battle against cancer, heart disease, and certain age-related chronic diseases, it also provides other important nutrients.

In addition to beta-carotene, kale posses other important carotenoids: lutein and zeaxathin. These carotenoids help keep UV rays from damaging the eyes and causing cataracts.

According to recent research results, kale is an incredible source of well-absorbed calcium, which is one of the many factors that may help prevent osteoporosis. It also provides decent amounts of vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B6, manganese, and potassium.

The manganese in kale helps your body's own antioxidant defense system, superoxide dismutase, protecting you from damaging free radicals. Its folate and B6 team up to keep homocysteine levels down, which may help prevent heart disease, dementia, and osteoporosis bone fractures."

Kale seems to be a bit of a superfood! I never realized all the great health benefits this tasty green has! I'll definitely keep putting it in my smoothies and salads!

Click the photo for a recipe for kale chips!

2 days until Weigh-In Wednesday!