I love kale and I try to drink a kale smoothie at least once a week or more, so the idea that it could be poisonous completely blew my mind. I enjoy the flavor and the health benefits, but to be totally honest I couldn’t live without it, so the negative backlash is not going to change my mind to consume it. Why? Because every few years there is always some product that people have stated was healthy and suddenly they decide later that it will kill you. Now, it’s just kale’s turn to get some bad press. Is eating too much kale poisonous? Well, let’s look at the facts.
The dilemma of kale:
People are talking about kale, and the word on the street is it will cause hypothyroidism if taken in high dosages. What is a high intake of kale? Well, if you eat raw kale everyday that may fit the bill. The word is that kale is in the cruciferous family along with broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, and they contain goitrin which is not good news. This can do a number on the thyroid and cause some major problems. There is the other issue of it containing thiocyanate ions which could keep the thyroid from taking in iodine.
I can’t even pronounce these big ugly words so I will not allow this news to keep me from my beloved kale, so what do we do now?
Let go and let… the healing begin
Nina Manolson, who is a health coach, made a few suggestions about keeping kale in your life. She thinks that consuming cooked kale as well as any other vegetable in the cruciferous family will lessen the danger.
Frankly, my entire family has been eating collard greens and cabbage since the dawn of time, and they are still alive and well, and the ones that died lived long into their 90s. It could be because they always cooked their vegetables to death, and never ate any raw.
Manolson also suggests that we eat seaweed to get that iodine, and to eat other veggies other than kale. I seriously don’t believe that we will OD on kale, but I do believe in moderation. Too much of anything is boring after a while, right?
How much kale do you eat?
