How To Juice Kale
When I heard about all the rage for kale, the so-called queen of greens, I knew I just had to include it into my diet. But the question was how. As you may have heard, kale can be eaten different ways: you can turn it into chips, mix it into a salad, or put it in a soup. Today, I’m going to help you learn how to juice kale.
Benefits of Kale
Helps Digestion
Kale has a high fiber content, which means that it’s great for cleansing and digesting. Did you know that single cup of kale can provide as much as 5 grams of fiber? People can now bid constipation goodbye with the help of kale.
“The New Beef”
Kale has been called as “the new beef” because compared to beef, kale has a higher iron content per calorie. Iron is essential for hemoglobin formation, oxygen transport, muscle function, brain function, and relief from fatigue caused by iron deficiency.
Also Read: Why these Hurom slow juicers are that popular!
Aids Bodily Processes
Kale is rich in vitamin K, which has several health benefits aside from preventing cancers. It also helps people who have Alzheimer’s disease and is necessary for its role in bodily processes such as blood clotting, bone growth, and prevention of heart diseases.
Cancer Prevention
Phytonutrients such as flavonoids and carotenoids, which are known to protect against different cancers, act as antioxidants which can be found in kale.
Anti-inflammatory
Suffering from arthritis? The Omega-3 fatty acid content of kale makes it perfect as an anti-inflammatory food.
Cardiovascular Support
Kale can offer cardiovascular support as eating it can help lower your levels of cholesterol. It is 43% as potent as cholestyramine, a drug that’s used for lowering cholesterol content in the body.
Great for Vision
Kale also has Vitamin A content, which is important for vision. Children who lack vitamin A can have visual impairments or even blindness. Vitamin A is also good for the skin, bones, and it also fosters cell growth.
Strengthens Immunity
While the Vitamin A content of kale is great for boosting immunity, it’s also high in Vitamin C, another vitamin known for strengthening our immune systems. Not only that, it helps in metabolism and hydration.
Strong and Healthy Bones
Adding to its many wonders, kale also has a high calcium content which as we know, helps in making bones stronger and healthier. It prevents osteoporosis and helps maintain flexibility in out cartilages and joints. Compared to milk, kale even has higher calcium content per calorie.
Liver Friendly
Kale also has detox qualities, which can be good for our livers. Its fiber and sulfur components make for a great detox food.
How to Juice Kale
While juicing vegetables like kale presents the problem of leaving the fiber behind, the rest of the vitamins and nutrients in the kale are still present in your drink after juicing. So if too much fiber is not good for you or your digestion, then juicing is probably the best way for you to still enjoy the other benefits of kale without having to compromise your digestion process.
In three easy steps, juicing kale has never been so easy.
Step 1: Wash it
Whether you’re juicing, cooking, or adding it into your soup or salad, washing kale is the first important step. You wouldn’t want to ingest the dirt and chemical residue from fertilizers now, would you? Using a vegetable spray made from mixing a cup of vinegar and 3 cups of water will help remove unwanted dirt and substances from the kale leaves. This vegetable spray is much more effective than simply washing or spraying the kale with water.
Step 2: Prepare it
There is more juice to be found in smaller and tender kale leaves than large and tough ones. So you have to remove any hard stems from the kale you’re using before you can juice it. Don’t forget to remove brown spots as well.
Step 3: Juice it
Finally, feed it to your mechanical juicer to juice. You can mix it with other vegetables such as spinach or cucumber to add more green vegetable goodness to your drink. And if you don’t like the naturally bitter taste, you can add ¾ cup of orange or pineapple juice to make the taste sweeter. You can also blend kale with frozen berries, Greek yogurt, ground flaxseed and nonfat milk to make the taste more palatable for you.
If the fibrous quality of kale upsets some sensitive stomachs, you can just add the kale juice to soup to be able to get the nutritional benefits of kale without having to deal with the fiber.
The Nutritional Content of Kale
Because kale is full of nutritional value, it is no question why it has been considered as a superfood. Adding kale to your diet definitely ups your intake of the following vitamins and minerals:
Calories and Fats
Kale is low in calorie content and has zero fats. That’s great news for all of us who want to eat healthy and maintain a good weight. According to studies, a half cup of kale has as low as 20 calories.
Protein and Fiber
Kale can help you reach your nutritional goals as it has protein and fiber content. While it is not enough to reach the amount needed by your body daily, it can significantly add to your intake. A half cup alone would give you 2 ½ g. of fiber and 1 g. of protein.
Sodium
Kale has a low-sodium content, which makes it good to eat for people who have high blood pressures. Because our bodies need sodium as well, eating kale can add around 1% of our daily sodium needs. A half cup of kale only has around 15 mg. of sodium in it.
Vitamins
Kale has a variety of vitamins including vitamin K, B vitamins, chlorophyll, and manganese. The highest content of them all would be vitamin A, where a half cup of kale is enough to provide 180% of your daily vitamin A needs. 45% of the daily requirement of vitamin C is also satisfied with a half cup of kale.
Calcium
And you thought calcium could only be gotten from milk. As it turns out, kale has high calcium content too and consuming a half cup of it would satisfy 14% of your daily calcium needs. Because it has less 0 fat and low calories, it is an even better alternative to getting your calcium needs from milk.
Iron
Our bodies need iron to help prevent anemia which in turn can cause fatigue. Eating a half cup of kale helps us meet about 4% of our daily needs.
Phytochemicals
Flavonoids and carotenoids which help protect plants against bacteria, viruses and fungi can also be found in kale. For humans, these antioxidants can prevent against a variety of cancers.
Conclusion
With the many different ways to enjoy kale, juicing them may be one of the most effective yet. And with all the vitamins and minerals that it contains, you can be sure to improve your health a whole lot more by deciding to add it to your daily diet.