Rumors have been circling the internet that the supposed superfood kale could actually be bad for you in high doses. An alternative medicine practitioner, Ernie Hubbard, has discovered a cause of serious illness in kale junkies with exceptionally “healthy” diets.
Hubbard tested their urine and found large amounts of the toxic metal thallium.
Thallium can spell serious trouble, even if ingested in non-fatal amounts. It can cause from fatigue and digestive woes to heart arrhythmia and hair loss.
Hubbard explains that the culprit is the soil. "If it's left in the ground, the leafy greens are going to take it up".
Many vegetable lovers were terrified of the news claiming that the infamously healthy vegetable contains heavy metals that can poison you.
Wait...now kale is bad for you? We're having a hard time keeping up with what's healthy and what's not! https://t.co/rlzu4HUZYU
— WBAP 24/7 NEWS (@WBAP247NEWS) July 16, 2015
But in response, a new wave of articles have hit the web declaring that the “kale is bad for you” claim is based on terrible scientific evidence.
While health scientists are certain that too much of anything is a bad thing, the short answer to the question if kale is bad for you is no. Kale is not at all bad for you, even in large amounts.
According to Oregon Live, there is absolutely no other research that suggests kale is bad for you. This means the only source of data that suggests as much comes from that single 2006 paper and the flimsy conclusions drawn from a practitioner of alternative medicine, which most scientists don’t even consider real medicine because it’s not based on evidence.
Vox even contacted the author of the original 2006 paper for clarification on the toxic metal in kale, who wrote back, “It is close to impossible for humans to be poisoned by eating kale from normal soils.”
Food And Wine Top story: The viral idea that kale is bad for you is based on in… https://t.co/TpG7GWJBqJ, see more https://t.co/g1Yg6cul7s — PORTLAND & OREGON (@The_CityOfRoses) July 20, 2015
The publication claimed that Hubbard’s conclusion is entirely bogus. Instead of investigating the idea himself and testing the hypothesis that kale causes those harmful symptoms, Hubbard selectively chose a research that supported the claim he was set on proving.
It is worth noting that living in an industrial world, toxins and poisons are everywhere. "Plants (of any kind) cultivated on and near toxic heavy metal deposits, waste and so on are to be avoided in kitchen," said Filip Poscic, a molecular biologist at the University of Udine in Italy.
