By michael - March, 16th 2014

For many Americans, kale is something that’s far from a dietary staple. In fact, many of us wouldn’t even recognize kale if we saw it on our own plate. However, there is ample reason to consider making this important food a regular part of your diet. The health advantages afforded by kale are numerous, and include lower cholesterol, decreased risk of cancer, relief for arthritis and more. And by consuming kale in its sprout form, you can maximize those nutritional benefits.

Painfully hip kale and Brussels sprouts are now a celebrity-produce couple of sorts, complete with myriad cutesy nicknames.

Kale sprouts, aka BrusselKale, are yes, a hybrid of Brussels sprouts and Russian Red kale, and starting to pop up in U.S. grocery stores.

Developed in the U.K. using old-fashioned breeding techniques, kale sprouts (or flower sprouts, as they are known there) look like flowering buds, with green-and-purple leaves. Brussels sprouts are big in the U.K., especially around the holidays, so British seed house Tozer Seeds set out to create a more subtle-tasting sprout, Lisa Friedrich, U.S. spokesperson for Tozer, told TODAY.com.

While new hybrid veggies come out all the time—think purple haze carrots—the kale sprout “is the most distinctive one we’ve seen since broccolini launched in 1999,” Bob Whitaker, chief science officer for the Produce Marketing Association, told TODAY.com.

A little confusing for customers, the veggie currently goes by a few different brand names in …

For those who are not familiar with this terrific, highly advantageous food, kale is a form of cabbage, and that’s basically how it looks—it is leafy and green. Many say that is resembles collard greens as the two are similar in more ways than one. Kale tends to have a bitter taste, which is why many people cook it before consumption. However, from a health standpoint, this may not be the best way to enjoy your kale as heat can kill nutrients. So try eating it in sprout form instead! If you are not familiar with the concept of sprouting, here is a brief overview: sprouting refers to a dietary choice to consume vegetables while they are still in their sprout form—that is, to eat kale as a sprout instead of in the leafy, cabbage-like form we are more familiar with. The benefit to sprouting is that, when these vegetables are in their sprout form, they tend to be even richer in nutrients.

Make sure to read the rest of the article Source.

Source