Factoid of the Day: Why Holey Kale is Better For You

Sharing from a friend's blog post. Factoids courtesy of Fry Farm back in my neck of the woods (Southern US)

"Fun fact: those insect-eaten holey kale leaves (or any other leafy green) are actually better for you then their unassaulted counterparts!!

Okay, so we all know that I'm a plant phytochemical nerd. I believe that one of the keys to health is consuming lots of them (which means eating lots of veggies, but also seeking out those veggies that have a higher density of phytochemicals, like wild plants and like local organic produce grown in high quality soil). So, when one of my local farmers mentioned this fun fact to me today, I just had to look it up!

And it's true! Plants are smarter than we think!   (Because of their compacted life cycles, plants are able to evolve special traits to protect themselves,increase potential pollination,  discourage competition from other plants, etc. very quickly. Plants are incredible.) 

Leaves normally release small quantities of a class of phytochemical called "plant volatiles". While the name sounds a little intimidating, plant volatiles are known to have very strong anti-cancer and antioxidant properties--meaning, it's improves health to eat them (this is one of the classes of compounds in plants credited with the ubiquitous health benefits of high-veggie diets).

When a leaf is damaged by herbivorous insects (yes, insects can be herbivores, carnivores or omnivores too!), many more plant volatiles are released. Exactly which plant volatiles are produced varies both by the plant species and by the species of that's eating it.

Why does the plant do this? These volatiles attract both parasitic and predatory insects that are natural enemies of the herbivore insects eating the plant--meaning, it's the plant's way of recruiting help defending itself. The plant attracts other insects that like to eat the insects that are eating it. Isn't that amazing?! These plant volatiles can even signal to neighboring plants to increase their defense responses too!

So, woo hoo to plants for having such a sophisticated defense strategy. But, even better for us? This means that we're getting more antioxidant goodness when we eat those organically-grown leafy greens that have some insect holes in them--you know, the same ones no one else wants to buy so your farmer sells them to you on the cheap?!?! It also means we don't need to get quite so worked up about aphids eating up our vegetable gardens--they're doing us a favor! This is also why strategies like crushing garlic 10 minutes before you add it to whatever you're cooking increases the antioxidant properties."

Yet another check in the plus column as to why organic veggies are better for you....

Like the author of this post, I am also a plant nerd, so I will explain that last comment about garlic in another post later this week.  Have a good day!  ~Suzanne