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Kale and the Immune System

Comparing the immune system-boosting effect of cooked versus raw kale.

March 7, 2012 |
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Supplementary Info

Kale and the Immune System, 5.0 out of 5 based on 4 ratings

Sources Cited

Nishi K, Kondo A, Okamoto T, Nakano H, Daifuku M, Nishimoto S, Ochi K, Takaoka T, Sugahara T. Immunostimulatory in vitro and in vivo effects of a water-soluble extract from kale. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2011;75(1):40-6.

Acknowledgements

Images thanks to Martin King and Clindberg via Wikimedia Commons.

Transcript

There were some extraordinary reports last year on cruciferous vegetables, For example, the immunostimulatory effects, of kale. So simple an experiment I don’t know why it hasn’t been done before. Roll up your sleeve, take some white bloodcells, drip a little kale on and see if it boosts their ability to produce antibodies. Here’s the control—no kale, which is basically the American diet, though if you check with the USDA we do consume as a country, annually per capita, 0.28793567 and change pounds. That’s a cup of kale per person… per year. So the average American is responsible for eating about a half teaspoon of kale a week, and kale consumption is in decline…
So anyways, here’s the control, then you start adding a billionth of a gram of kale protein per liter—just slightly less than U.S. consumption, and look at that spike, quadrupling antibody production with… kale. These data provide valuable information to confirm yet another beneficial function of kale.
Now that’s for raw kale, what if you cooked it? And not just cooked it, but cooked it to death—boiled it, for a half an hour. What do you think happened? Did boiling abolish it’s immunostimulatory effect? Here’s the control again. The filled circles are the cooked, the unfilled the raw, and the cooked, worked even better.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

The bioavailability of some phytonutrients is increased by cooking. See my Best Cooking Method video to find out which vegetables are better cooked and which are the best to eat raw. Check out my 33 other videos on greens and hundreds of other videos on more than a thousand subjects. And note that the study I'm talking about here is published in an open access journal, so you can click on it above in the Sources Cited section and read it full-text for free.

For more context, check out my associated blog posts:  Breast Cancer Stem Cells vs. Broccoli, Eating Green to Prevent Cancer, The Anti-Wrinkle Diet

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    The bioavailability of some phytonutrients is increased by cooking. See my Best Cooking Method video to find out which vegetables are better cooked and which are the best to eat raw. Check out my 33 other videos on greens and hundreds of other videos on more than a thousand subjects. And note that the study I’m talking about here is published in an open access journal, so you can click on it above in the Sources Cited section and read it full-text for free.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/capebreton/ CapeBreton

    I’m curious about the In Vivo activity of these immune stimulating proteins. How do they make it through the digestive system and into the blood stream intact? You would expect them to be broken down by the HCl and proteolytic enzymes.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/EricWags/ Eric Wags

    CapeBreton,

    Did you read the study? There was also some animal testing done in vivo. Unfortunately not enough time for me to attempt to disseminate it.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/paul3917/ paul3917

    I’m wondering if this effect, that cooked kale is more effective in stimulating the immune response isn’t related to Kouchakoff’s work in 1930 that foods heated above a “critical temperature,” 87 – 97 Celsius for most foods, resulted in increased production of white blood cells. Raw foodists take this as an indication that cooked food is unhealthy, however, interpreted in the light of this experiment, we might conclude that it is actually immune-stimulatory and salutary. If I read correctly, spinach and other green leaf vegetables containing rubisco, a protein used in photosynthesis, are also immune-enhancing. This might in part, explain the benefit of green leafy vegetables.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/thea/ Thea

    I’m happy for these results since I like cooked kale way better than raw.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/sarahharmony/ sarahharmony

    I juice the kale from my garden, then freeze it. Any idea what freezing does to it’s properties?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mandy0678/ mandy0678

    Anyone have some good kale recipes? Its rather gross tasting!

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/thea/ Thea

      mandy0678: re: kale recipes

      I personally would not go so far as to call kale “gross” (let’s talk amla powder for that), but I definitely agree that kale is not wonderful tasting. I especially did not like it when when I first started eating it. Luckily, at least for me, kale is an acquired taste and I’m working on acquiring it.

      Instead of eating kale by itself, I searched the web and my new vegan cookbooks for recipes which had kale in them, just not the only ingredient or main taste. I found a bunch of dishes – most of the recipes are free on-line. Look for “creamed” kale, pan-seared mushrooms with kale, and kale in bean soups. When you get more used to the taste, you can try kale chips or even the “cheasy” kale chips that I found on-line. The cashew cheese in this recipe is simply delish!

      I’ve also found that just about any recipe which calls for spinach (which is also very good for you, but which does not have the absorb-able calcium that kale has) can use kale instead. Sometimes you have to cook the kale longer than spinach.

      I hope this helps. I decided for myself that kale was worth the effort of trying to integrate into my diet. It has been quite the challenge, but I’m getting there. I hope you do too.

      Tip of the day: I have heard that Costco is now selling bags of *organic* baby kale that is already off the stem and for a decent price. I also heard that it is not as bitter as grown-up kale. I have no idea of the health differences between this baby kale and the grown up version, but based on other videos on this website, I would guess that baby kale is either just as healthy or maybe even healthier than the grown up kind.

      I hope you found this helpful. Good luck.

    • Country heaven

      Heat up a sauté pan, add olive oil and crushed garlic, then chopped kale after you’ve rinsed it– strip the leafy part from any thick stems first– and add to the sautéing garlic. Add salt, to taste (or a small amount of umeboshi plum vinegar if you can find it in an Asian grocery) and enough water to cover the bottom of the pan to a quarter inch. Cover and cook until tender, but still bright green. The last part is essential. Healthy or not, over cooked kale is awful! This is delicious and healthy. Use much the same method to cook mustard greens and collard greens, all delicious and members of the cruciferous family of vegetables. So are broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Spinach is not in the same family and despite being a leafy dark green vegetable, holds none of the extraordinary health giving properties of the others mentioned here. In fact, spinach can contribute to kidney stone formation.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/chrish/ ChrisH

    Thanx Mandy & Thea, for making me think I’m weird – I like kale, taste ‘n all, raw or cooked. Luckily I’m living by myself, in a house at the edge of town, because the odor of cooking this life saver of a vegetable has been known to be upsetting some haters…
    :o)

    • http://www.facebook.com/wendy.jaehnig Wendy Jaehnig

      I love kale as well, raw and cooked, so I guess we’re both weird.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/veggiechick/ veggiechick

    I love dinosaur kale to me it has a better taste. I love it in stir fry’s.

  • Melanie

    Surprising results! I enjoy the flatter-leafed versions of kale rather than curly kale. I enjoy it steamed with mushrooms and eggplant, served over rice with some soya sauce. There was an excellent recipe for kale and tomato soup with garlic and almonds in the book Vegan of $4 a Day. Dr. G., I hope you get to do some lectures for pharmacology students. They’d love your presentations.

  • Michael Greger M.D.

    For some context, please also check out my associated blog post Breast Cancer Stem Cells vs. Broccoli!

  • Coach Mac

    No Kale in France. What is the closest to kale here?

    • Toxins

       Try consuming any dark green leefy vegetable such as collards, spinach, bok choy, arugula and Swiss chard.

    • Euclidean2

      swiss chard is super-nutritious as well. Be sure to consume both cooked and raw (juice or whole leaf) forms of kale and swiss chard.

  • http://www.facebook.com/marius.aglen Marius Aglen

    Do you know if it’s okay to drink kale juice if you’ve got fructose malabsorption.
    I have it, and got told to stay away from most fruits. (Except grape, lemons, those kinda things).

    But i really want to be as healthy as I possible can, but I feel really limited.
    I take what I can, in vegetables, and nuts. But hardly any fruit, since that makes me fully constipated.

    You seem awfully smart, got any suggestions, ideas xD?

  • rasil

    I consume raw kale daily and often twice a day as the basis for my salad.  Here is a healthy and absolutely delicious recipe for using kale as one uses any kind of lettuce.

    Ingredients
    kale, onion, red bell pepper, Persian cucumbers ( or baby cukes), plum tomatoes, jalpenos (optional, I prefer the tamed style as they are not as “hot” but add a bit of zing to the salad), garlic & onion powders, and “good” Italian dressing.

    Wash, dry, and de-stem kale.
    Roll and cut both length and width wise into small pieces.
    Slice or dice onions, peppers, cukes, & jalapenos. (**do not add tomatoes yet)
    Add garlic & onion powders and place kale in a plastic bag and shake until powders and all ingredients are blended well.
    Store and refrigerate in a zip lock bag for the same amount of time you would store lettuce.
    Retrieve the kale and use as you would any kind of lettuce.
    Add tomatoes and Italian salad dressing only when ready to serve or it will become soggy.  Delicous and soooo nutritious.  Provides more and a better quality of calcium than Boneva :)

    *N.B. It seems to be much work initially but once the kale is prepared, it is a pleasure to reach into the bag and retrieve only what you need without going through the preparation each time you want a salad.  Enjoy!

  • Reklaw

    Dr. Greger, what foods have you know to be helpful for someone that is HIV positive?

  • http://www.facebook.com/valerie.b.tomsic Valerie Brook Tomsic

    Kale is really awesome stuff…I prefer the dino kale too but am now growing my own curly kale! Love to dip it raw in hummus for a snack…also love to add it torn up into lentil soup. Let’s not forget kale chips…wow, great stuff if you don’t add a lot of gunky stuff to it! I do also love it sauteed with garlic & onions and put over black rice.

  • nyxdeity

    KALE CHIPS!! I am not a fan of just chewing on kale but I love kale chips, I even saw a recipe for chocolate covered kale chips YUMM

  • http://www.facebook.com/diane.krstulovich Diane Krstulovich

    Wow! Pretty amazing.

  • Андрей Ханевский
    • http://nutritionfacts.org/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Thank you–fixed!

  • BB

    Kale is the crack of the Hamptons…

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