Highly-respected health expert Professor Tim Spector has issued a warning about the health benefits of one particular superfood, but not all experts agree.
In a Netflix documentary released last year, Hack Your Health: The Secret of Your Gut, Tim and other experts spoke about the importance of our gut when it comes to maintaining our health. It was during this discussion that he issued a warning about superfood kale.
Tim said: “Many people think like you, that just having a really healthy kale salad every day is going to keep them healthy. That’s not as healthy as we thought.”
Backing up Tim’s claim was fellow health professional, Jack Gilbert, a professor at the University of California, who added: “The more diversity you consume, the more rich your microbiome will be, the more species of bacteria that will be present inside your gut.”
Kale reportedly contains Polyphenols which are known to reduce cholesterol
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Tim replied, explaining further about what our diets should look like: “And that does allow you to deal with allergies and intolerances better. It’s not about restricting things. It’s about enlarging your world of foods that are possible for you to eat.”
Meanwhile, despite the two professors seemingly being somewhat dismissive of the ‘superfood’, nutritionist Dr Federica Amati was recently singing the praises of the popular ingredient.
She posted on Instagram: “I do love kale in lots of different recipes. Kale salads are really good; adding kale to a pesto is something I love to do as well and another really good combination is kale and anchovies.”
Dr Amati also pointed towards the fact that it contains Polyphenols: “Kale is a brassica containing lots of polyphenols. It’s high in fibre and it is highly versatile. However, it’s not the only leafy green that offers us such a variety of benefits and some people really don’t like the taste.”
The health benefits of eating a diet filled with Polyphenols has been recommended by experts for some time, thanks to it’s ability to lower cholesterol levels, blood pressure and even the risk of heart disease.
Hack Your Health: The Secret of Your Gut is currently available to view on Netflix.