“Oh, thrice and four times happy those who plant cabbages.” Francois Rabelais, 16th century French writer

M. Rabelais might now be in the minority with that opinion, but from a health standpoint, he’s spot on. Cabbages have been cultivated for at least 6000 years, probably originating from wild, non-head forming greens (acephala), of which modern kale is perhaps the truest descendent. Our forebears may not have known why kale and cabbages are so fiercely good for us, but historical figures have thought well enough of it to pass comment: Pythagoras praised it as an all-purpose remedy; Hippocrates (who else) declared it “the vegetable of a thousand virtues”.

Through the ages, and from China to Greece to Scotland, cabbages have been used to treat illnesses and disorders as diverse as deafness, gastrointestinal problems and gout. Interestingly the Roman statesman, Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder, 254-149 BC), a powerful man who distrusted doctors, believed cabbages to be a direct line to the fountain of youth. Today, cabbages – and kale in particular -are widely touted as a top anti-ageing food, slowing collagen decline and aiding digestion (which is key to most nutrient absorption).

More acutely for many of us, kale and cabbages have form as anti-cancer foods of the highest regard. Consuming cabbages – and all cruciferous vegetables – has recently and consistently been observed to help prevent breast, lung, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers. Those are just the diseases that have been studied; doubtless other cancers are at least indirectly prevented or hindered by regular kale and cabbage consumption. Cabbages are now seen as more effective than tomatoes at preventing most forms of prostate cancer. For cancer prevention, more is better when it comes to cabbages and kale. But within the context of a wide-ranging, plant-food based diet, of course. No super-sizing, please.

I’ve covered cabbages previously, but before I get to today’s recipe I will just tell you that kale in particular features an abundance of nutrients and anti-cancer compounds, including numerous phytochemicals (indole-3-carbinol, sulforaphane and allyl isothiocynates being the biggies), beta-carotene, Vitamins C and bone-building K (a half-cup serving contains 590% of daily requirements), calcium ( 9% of requirements per 1/2 cup), manganese, potassium, magnesium, folate and iron.. And of course fibre – some 5 % per half-cup. For the most part we benefit from it being steamed or simmered (save the water) for about five minutes. This goes double for anyone not used to strong-tasting greens.

Kale also racks up a hugely impressive ORAC score of 1700. ORAC stands for ‘oxygen radical absorbance capacity’, and basically it measures the free radical-neutralising capacity of the tested substance – how effective it is as an antioxidant food. If you were to be populist about it you might call it a plant food’s ‘anti-ageing points’. As stated in the book,The Color Code(Joseph, Nadeau and Underwood, 2003), “the evidence is clear that people with the greatest amounts of antioxidants in their diets show the fewest effects of aging.” I will stick my neck out a fraction to append “and disease”.

Kale and cabbages are tricky vegetables to promote. What makes them so healthy for us is also what makes them so ‘distinctive’ in taste – or disgusting to some. A goodly proportion of folk do seem to really loath this group of vegetables. These people may be labelled as ‘super-tasters’, meaning that they have inherited more taste buds. This group hyper tastes everything – sweet, salt, bitter, tart, savoury -so may have a fairly limited diet. Green vegetables in particular are super-tasted, and are therefore very likely to be avoided. Which is a huge shame. This little recipe may not change the mind of a true super-taster, but it could convince some of you medium-tasters (we really need a snazzier name here) to give this deeply coloured, deeply nutritious green the respect it deserves. Unless you are a super-taster the berries will do a sterling job masking the kale. I love kale in all its bitter, savoury forms, but I don’t want it bulldozing its way through my morning juice or smoothie. If you think you or your child is a super taster/ picky eater, look here at this interesting Harvard Medical School site for more information.

Kale-Berry Smoothie