kale chips: the ultimate healthy comfort food

Kale Chips are the ultimate comfort food classic. These make excellent healthy snacks and probably cheaper than potato chips (crisps) you get from the supermarket. I also thought these would take the focus away from the virus situation right now and put health back on the table.

Kale Chips were featured in one of my previous blog posts: 10 Healthy Plant-Based Snack Ideas. You can read it here.

But first, let’s talk about this wonderful vegetable. Do I hear a ‘kale yeah!’

Well, kale has become a popular superfood not long ago but historically, the green leafy vegetable has been a staple part of the diet of many countries worldwide, but it seems almost new to the diets of western cultures and is now a must-have on many restaurant menus.

A part of the cruciferous (Brassica or cabbage) family, it is packed full of goodness. It has exceptional nutrient richness and unsurpassed health benefits and is said to have more calcium than a glass of milk. Kale also contains impressive levels of beta-carotene, protein, iron, vitamins C, K, A and E, a number of B vitamins, folate, potassium, manganese, magnesium, omega-3 fats, antioxidants and lots of fibre. Kale is an alkaline food, so consuming it helps to maintain steady alkaline PH in our bodies, which in turn can prevent disease. Studies suggest that if your diet contains 4 – 5 servings of kale a week, you may also gain from the following health benefits.

Cancer fighting and risk lowering
This is the most extensively studied health benefit about this green vegetable. Kale contains close to 50 different flavonoids which combine antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, reducing oxidative stress and so the risk of cancer as well as other chronic health problems such as cataracts, atherosclerosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Anti-inflammatory health benefits
Both the levels of vitamin K and omega-3 in this vegetable have a direct benefit to chronic inflammation and associated health issues.

Cardiovascular support
The fibre components in kale bind with bile acids in the digestive tract, which allows the acids to be excreted, thereby lowering cholesterol, thus supporting heart health.

Detoxifying to the body
Along with the antioxidants in kale, the chlorophyll (contained in all leafy green vegetables) also promotes good digestion and assists in ridding the body of toxins.

Weight loss
Kale is a low-calorie food. The gIucosinoIates (compounds that contain sulphur) in kale decrease the absorption of fat in the body.

The list will no doubt grow longer as further research continues but what’s not to love about kale? If you need to add more vegetables to your diet, choose this vegetable because it has huge health benefits and contains some of the best nutrients you will find.

And now for the recipe…

If you want a ‘cheesy’ version of this recipe, here’s a good one.