Kale

Kale is one of the most horrifically gross things I've ever eaten. It's like hard and gaggy pond weed. But that gross pond weed crap is really really really good for you. I've been trying to choke it down in salads and literally smothering the life out of it with dressing. But I decided on something today...

My grandpa has cancer. He had surgery yesterday to see if they could just remove the tumor and/or his lung. That would've been hugely invasive but it would've taken care of it pretty well. No such luck. For whatever reason they couldn't remove it and so he has to go through chemo therapy and radiation. Of course everyone's trying to stay positive. Of course we all think it will work out. But I'm scared to death for him. I'm scared for everything he'll have to go through. I'm scared for my mom and how upset she is. I'm just flat out scared. I don't want anything like this to happen to anyone I know, especially not my grandpa. And I never want it to happen to me.

There are a lot of shitty things in the environment and in our food that put carcinogens into our bodies. There's a lot of crap our bodies have to process. But there are also a LOT of things we can do and eat to help counteract all that. Besides the vitamins and minerals that your body needs every single day to perform every single one of the millions of functions that keeps us all alive, fruits and vegetables have these amazing little phytochemicals that go beyond maintaining general health. Since I'm talking about gross disgusting nasty kale, I'll use that. Kale, though it tastes like rotten oak leaves, has: glucosinates including indoles which protect your body from carcinogens (cancer causing agents, if you're not hip to that) and reduce the activity of estrogen which can slow the roll of estrogen related cancers, bioflavonoids which combine with metals in your body and make blood platelets less sticky so they won't clot as easily so you're less likely to have a stroke or heart attack, and sterols which help maintain healthy blood fat levels. The phytochemicals also help trasnport oxygen to tissues, aid in liver function (because we all know how much delicious beer Colorado has...), and help your body use energy from food. Vitamins and mineral make your body work. Phytochemicals make it work better.

So, if this nasty leaf can do that for my body and if it can help keep me from going through what my grandpa is going through, I can handle chewing it for a minute. I put this little body through a lot. Gotta feed it properly.