Kale vs Cabbage by the Numbers
A few years back, kale was dubbed as a "superfood" - but what about the humble, inexpensive cabbage that was a staple for my grandparents ? And just how "super" is kale?
I have been growing kale for years. In fact, I have been growing it since before it became a trendy health food and before it was labelled a “Super food”. So I was thinking about this the other day as I was picking some of the last kale in my garden. Kale truly is an amazing plant. It is easy to grow, and can be harvested well into late fall depending on one's location. I am lucky that I have the space to grow it, and eat it all the time - but I recognize that most people buy their kale.
We all want to eat healthy, but we also want value. Kale is a very healthy produce option - but it is becoming increasingly expensive as prices rise. Using current prices, kale is about $3.50 a bunch, which (working on the assumption that a “bunch” is roughly a pound (0.45kg)), works out to $7.78/kg; and of course, the price goes up even more if it’s organic or pre-chopped.
One bunch of kale is just enough for one kale side-dish for four people - so for those who wish to eat healthy, and cannot grow their own kale - then it is gradually becoming a more costly dietary option.
By contrast, plain old green cabbage is $2.84/kg - almost 1/3 the cost of kale.
So, for the sake of curiosity, I thought it would be interesting to contrast kale with cabbage from a nutritional point of view, to assess the value proposition of cabbage as an economical alternative to kale. For the sake of this comparison I will use the USDA values per 100g of cooked kale/cabbage rather than raw, because I think there is a strong argument to prefer cooked to raw based on this article.
Here are the numbers:
As can be seen from the data - and this was surprising to me as I thought it would be closer - kale outdoes cabbage in just about every category. It has about 3x the protein; 2x the fiber; 6x the calcium; 25x the iron; over 2x the magnesium; and the list just goes on and on all the way down the line.
It is possible that the method of cooking and the variety of kale/cabbage might change the results, and perhaps further investigation might yield different numbers to some degree - but given the contrast, and assuming some degree of uniformity in preparation and measurement, it really does seem to be the case that kale packs the bigger nutritional punch.
Now, with all of that having been said, cabbage still costs less and is still full of good stuff. And further to that point, there is no reason that one could not just buy cabbage and eat more of it. Or buy cabbage AND kale, and cook them together to economize (they go well together).
Yay Science!
I began writing this article on the assumption that kale and cabbage would be very close in terms of their nutritional values, and the data said otherwise. This is why data matters, and why it is important to have organizations that gather and disseminate data. It never ceases to amaze me how much noise there is on the internet about which foods are good or bad - when there is good data, freely available to all.
Final Thoughts
Whenever I hear about a supposed “super food”, I like to do what I call the “grandparent test”. It’s a simple test. I look at my grandparent’s generation, think about how healthy they were eating simple things like apples, potatoes, cabbages, turnips and carrots, and then I re-think the necessity of the superfood. Sure, the numbers show that kale is packed with nutrition. I eat it all the time, so I guess that’s a good thing. Still, with that having been said, I think I will be lucky if I live as long, or as well as my grandparents. For anyone feeling the pinch at the supermarket these days, I think it makes perfect sense to diversify a little, and grab some of the less costly items. Just because a given vegetable has a little less of this vitamin or that nutrient does not mean that is any less worthy of finding it’s way onto one’s plate. I don’t think “superfoods” are necessary for good health. People place far too much value on these things and waste a lot of money. Rather, I think the age-old virtues of variety, moderation and and active lifestyle are the wiser, and more economical path to good health.
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