Friday, December 11, 2009

Kale Over Milk for Calcium

Kale is one of those super healthy foods that we should all be eating a little more of. It is very rich in vitamins, minerals, and anutrients such as pigments carotenes and chlorophyll, giving it many anticancer properties and making it among the most nutritious of all vegetables.

It's the levels of minerals though, particularly Calcium, that I find especially intriguing.

Did you know that a cup of kale actually has more calcium than a cup of milk... An important fact that anyone suffering from a dairy allergy will be delighted to know.

Americans are so brainwashed into thinking the only way we can get our daily allowance of calcium is by drinking milk, but the truth is dairy allergy or not, milk is not the smartest choice. (See 'Milk Allergies on the Rise') We know that nutrients work together and that the consumption ratios of one to another is in some cases more important than the actual quantity consumed, but when these nutrients are consumed in ratios that are not ideal these nutrients will actually work against each other; this is the case with calcium and phosphorous.

Since phosphorous can reduce the utilization and promote the excretion of calcium if consumed in high amounts with respect to calcium, kale becomes a more ideal source than milk since kale contains almost 3 times the amount of calcium than phosphorous (3:1). Milk on the other hand has just about a 1:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorous, and that coupled with the fact that milk has a calcium to magnesium ratio of nearly 6:1 (ideal is 2:1 since magnesium is very important for the absorption of calcium).

So whether you have a dairy allergy, have finally waken up to truth about dairy, or are simply trying to avoid osteoporosis which is very common in woman (and not uncommon in men), then I'm sure you too will find this to be very enlightening.

4 comments:

  1. Well written and informative! I would definitely choose a cup of kale over milk any day.

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  2. Thank you for your comment!

    It's amazing how powerful fresh fruits vegetable are, and yet the average American's diet consists of so little of these natural wonders of the food world. It's no wonder why everyone is so concerned about health-care... when you eat unhealthy, then unhealthy you shall be.

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  3. When it comes to a milk (or dairy allergy) one can think of milk as either protein (whey and casein) or sugar (lactose).

    Lactose is the sugar that is found in milk and makes up about 5% or so of milk by weight, therefore "lactose intolerant" is the inability to digest the sugar.

    On the other hand if you have a difficulty digesting the milk protein than it's the whey and/or casein that your body can't digest... only an allergy test can truly tell you which part of milk it is your body can't tolerate.

    I believe it is best to stay away from cow's milk entirely, regardless of which "part" of the milk you have difficulties digesting. And to be honest, based on what I've read, I do not believe milk is a healthy choice for anyone to consume as I've noted in "Kale over Milk for Calcium"...

    See also "Milk allergies on the rise".

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