Nutrition for Kale

Calories, Protein, Vitamins and More


image of kale source

Kale Nutrition Summary

One cup of kale (21 grams or 0.74 oz) contains 7 calories and 0.6 grams of protein. Kale consist of 90% water, 4% carbohydrates, 3% protein, and 2% fat.

Kale is an excellent source of many nutrients, including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium and Vitamin K. It also contains significant amounts of manganese.

In one cup of kale:

  • Calories: 7
  • Protein: 0.6 g
  • Sugar: 0.2 g
  • Dietary fiber: 0.9 g
  • Fat: 0.3 g
  • Sodium: 11.1 mg
There is no significant amounts of saturated fat or cholesterol in kale.

See the Kale Nutrition Chart for complete recommended daily values.
The specific nutritional values from USDA is for: Kale, raw.

Calories in Kale

Kale has 7 calories per cup or 33 calories for every 100 grams. Most of its calories are from carbohydrates, fat and protein.

41% of calories in kale are from carbohydrates, 31% of calories are from fat and 28% of calories are from protein.

Calories from Carbs

A good portion, or 41% of the calories in kale are from carbohydrates. The carbs in kale are mostly in the form of dietary fiber and sugar (82% and 18%). An excellent high-fiber food, a single cup of kale contains 3% of recommended daily values or 0.9 grams of dietary fiber.

  • Dietary fiber: 0.9 g
  • Sugar: 0.2 g
There is no significant amounts of starch in kale.

Calories from Fat

A substantial amount, or 31% of the calories in Kale are from fat. Kale is low in total fat, with 0.3 grams per cup. Most of the fat in kale are healthier unsaturated fats.

Kale is cholesterol free and trans-fat free.

  • Total fat: 0.3 g
  • Saturated fat: < 0.1 g
  • Monounsaturated fat: < 0.1 g
  • Polyunsaturated fat: 0.1 g
There is no significant amounts of cholesterol or trans fat in kale.

Omega-6 in Kale

A source of omega-6 fatty acids, every cup of kale contains a total of 0.1 grams of omega-6. In addition, a large portion of the omega-6 in kale comes from linolenic acid - the only essential omega-6 fatty acid. [2]

  • linoleic acid: 0.06 g

Calories Similar to Kale

Some other vegetables with similar calories to kale by weight:


Protein in Kale

A single cup of Kale contains 0.6 grams of protein. Although kale is relatively low in protein, it does contain all 9 essential amino acids at small amounts.

  • Protein: 0.61 g
  • Tryptophan: 0.01 g
  • Threonine: 0.03 g
  • Isoleucine: 0.04 g
  • Leucine: 0.04 g
  • Lysine: 0.04 g
  • Methionine: 0.01 g
  • Phenylalanine: 0.03 g
  • Valine: 0.03 g
  • Histidine: 0.04 g

Protein Similar to Kale

Some other vegetables with similar amounts of protein to kale by weight:

Vitamins and Minerals in Kale

An good source of many nutrients, kale contains abundant amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium and Vitamin K. In fact, a single cup of kale contains 91% of recommended daily values or 81.8 ug of Vitamin K. Also an excellent source of Vitamin C, a single cup of kale contains 26% of recommended daily values or 19.6 milligrams of Vitamin C.

Vitamins in kale (1 cup):
  • Vitamin a: 50.6 ug
  • Thiamin: < 0.1 mg
  • Riboflavin: 0.1 mg
  • Niacin: 0.2 mg
  • Vitamin b6: < 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin c: 19.6 mg
  • Vitamin e: 0.1 mg
  • Folate: 13 ug
  • Vitamin k: 81.8 ug
Minerals in kale (1 cup):
  • Calcium: 53.3 mg
  • Potassium: 73.1 mg
  • Iron: 0.3 mg
  • Magnesium: 6.9 mg
  • Zinc: 0.1 mg
  • Selenium: 0.2 ug
  • Phosphorus: 11.6 mg
  • Copper: < 0.1 mg
  • Manganese: 0.2 mg
  • Choline: 0.1 mg
There is no significant amounts of pantothenic acid or vitamin b12 in kale.

Similar to Kale for Vitamin K

Here are some other vegetables with similarly abundant amounts of Vitamin K to kale:

Flavonoids and Carotenoids in Kale [3]

Kale contains a number of healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants, specifically carotenoids beta-carotene and lutein + zeaxanthin and flavonoids isorhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin. In one cup of kale:

  • beta-carotene: 603 ug
  • lutein + zeaxanthin: 1315 ug
  • isorhamnetin: 4.96 mg
  • kaempferol: 9.83 mg
  • Quercetin: 4.74 mg

Kale Nutrition Chart

Kale:

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riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
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pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5)
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folate (Vitamin B9)
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histidine
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isoleucine
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lysine
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methionine
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phenylalanine
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threonine
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tryptophan
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valine
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choline
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Nutrition calculations are from Harvard Medical's nutrient guidelines [1] and USDA's food central database (2019) [2].
We calculated values from 2000 kCal daily recommended diet.

Kale in Cooking

Kale is in the top 10% of most popular ingredients for recipes. Kale can be consumed raw and is often chopped, stemmed or sliced before cooking or serving. Most recipes call for one or two cups of kale.

Friends and Relatives of Kale

Foods commonly cooked with kale: Other similar relatives:


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