What's in kale? USDA nutrient content data

(Photo: Homegrown kale, frozen, now thawing)

Here is a complete chart showing the nutrient content of 1 cup of chopped raw kale, an amount I would easily consume in a fresh salad, mixed with various other greens or as my husband's delicious kale slaw recipe.

The standouts are the high content of calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin K, potassium, manganese, copper, and even the plant form of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid). In addition to the carotenoid beta-carotene, kale contains other very important carotenoid molecules called lutein and zeaxanthin (both necessary for eye health) and numerous others (probably too many to count, and maybe even yet identified).

The fact that you can consume such a large quantity of these important nutrients from a food that is so easy to grow, readily available, easy to incorporate into many different delicious recipes, plus so low in calories is a huge bonus and reason to eat some kale 365 days of the year!

I plan to write posts in the upcoming months to give you more information about the importance of each of these nutrients and other molecules (phytochemicals not required for growth but important to optimize overall health) contained in kale and other brassica vegetables. Doing so will be a great review and fun for me; in fact, I can almost guarantee that I will learn something new, too, and I will enjoy sharing this information with you!

Kale (raw)

Scientific Name: Brassica oleracea (Acephala Group)

Nutrient	Units	1 cup, chopped ------- 67.000 g
Proximates
Water	g	56.588
Energy	kcal	33.500
Energy	kj	140.030
Protein	g	2.211
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.469
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	6.707
Fiber, total dietary	g	1.340
Ash	g	1.025
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	90.450
Iron, Fe	mg	1.139
Magnesium, Mg	mg	22.780
Phosphorus, P	mg	37.520
Potassium, K	mg	299.490
Sodium, Na	mg	28.810
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.295
Copper, Cu	mg	0.194
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.519
Selenium, Se	mcg	0.603
Vitamins
Vitamin C, ascorbic acid	mg	80.400
Thiamin	mg	0.074
Riboflavin	mg	0.087
Niacin	mg	0.670
Pantothenic acid	mg	0.061
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.182
Folate	mcg	19.631
Vitamin B-12	mcg	0.000
Vitamin A, IU	IU	5963.000
Vitamin A, RE	mcg_RE	596.300
Vitamin E	mg_ATE	0.536
Lipids
Fatty acids, saturated	g	0.061
4:0	g	0.000
6:0	g	0.000
8:0	g	0.000
10:0	g	0.000
12:0	g	0.001
14:0	g	0.002
16:0	g	0.051
18:0	g	0.003
Fatty acids, monounsaturated	g	0.035
16:1	g	0.001
18:1	g	0.033
20:1	g	0.000
22:1	g	0.000
Fatty acids, polyunsaturated	g	0.226
18:2	g	0.092
18:3	g	0.121
18:4	g	0.000
20:4	g	0.001
20:5	g	0.000
22:5	g	0.000
22:6	g	0.000
Cholesterol	mg	0.000
Amino acids
Tryptophan	g	0.027
Threonine	g	0.098
Isoleucine	g	0.132
Leucine	g	0.155
Lysine	g	0.132
Methionine	g	0.021
Cystine	g	0.029
Phenylalanine	g	0.113
Tyrosine	g	0.078
Valine	g	0.121
Arginine	g	0.123
Histidine	g	0.046
Alanine	g	0.111
Aspartic acid	g	0.198
Glutamic acid	g	0.251
Glycine	g	0.107
Proline	g	0.131
Serine	g	0.093

USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 12 (March 1998)

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate (of course I eat that too if I know that it has been washed)!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD