Kale and Cabbage Salad With Light and Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Published on July 5, 2014

If you haven’t heard of superfoods, they are the highly nutritious foods, those with an unusually high amounts of antioxidants, vitamins or other nutrients that have been proven to reduce the risk of developing certain diseases. It can be helpful to know what foods are good for what, but you don’t need specific foods for a specific ailment. Eating healthy is a preventive approach to overall health. A diet made of a variety of superfoods will help you maintain your weight, blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels to ward off heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

This is a superfood salad. Both kale and cabbage are cruciferous vegetables which have antioxidant nutrients, anti-inflammatory nutrients and anti-cancer nutrients. Without a sufficient intake of antioxidants, our oxygen metabolism can become compromised, and we experience a condition called “oxidative stress” which leads to free radical damage and inflammation. This stress, damage and inflammation can lead to cancer. And if the walls of arteries are inflamed, the body patches the walls with cholesterol to protect them which can build up and put stress on your heart. Kale is one of the worlds healthiest foods. It’s cancer preventive benefits are linked to two types of antioxidants, carotenoids and flavonoids. Kale raises the blood levels of these two carotenoid nutrients protecting the body from oxidative stress.

Kale also provides the body with Omega-3, vitamin K. Its fiber acts to draw cholesterol out of the body and it contains nutrients that support some of the body’s detoxing processes. Pumpkin seeds are rich in vitamin E and zinc. Poppy seeds are rich in oleic and linoleic acids which lower the bad LDL cholesterol and increase the good HDL cholesterol. They are an excellent source of vitamin B and contain good levels of some minerals. Poppy seeds outer coat is a good source of fiber.

Cherries are a good source of copper and vitamin C which the body relies on to aid collagen production to keep tissues strong and also helps fight the free radical damage of oxidative stress. If you don’t drink wine and are missing out on the resveratrol, it’s also in cherry juice.

Kale and Cabbage Salad With Light and Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Kale and Cabbage Salad With Light and Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Salad

Ingredients