I have been getting bad stomach pains from eating any kind of raw kale, even when marinated overnight in a salad with lemon juice and olive oil, or in a green smoothie. Has anyone else had this experience? I would really like to keep it in my diet, but my body seems to have trouble digesting it. Any suggestions?

Juice it maybe.

But if it really hurts you maybe you should aviod it. At least for awhile.

How long have you been eating raw? Are you 100% raw? One thing I know is if your body is more acid, alkaline foods taste more bitter. Wheatgrass is an excellent indicator, the more alkaline your body gets, the better it tastes to you.

Well, it might also be that you're not chewing the kale enough. It's a rougher leaf than most of the salad greens and might just be harder to digest if not chewed properly. If that's the problem, putting kale in your smoothies might solve it. I often do that with kale and all sorts of other greens. It's far more digestible than having them in salads. I love kale in smoothies.

[www.whfoods.com]
Scroll to almost the bottom of the link above to read the safety warning.

Kale has a safety warning on it. Kale is not good for everybody to eat.

Safety
Kale and Oxalates
Kale is among a small number of foods that contain any measurable amount of oxalates, naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals, and human beings. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. For this reason, individuals with already existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating kale. Oxalates may also interfere with absorption of calcium from the body. For this reason, individuals trying to increase their calcium stores may want to avoid kale, or if taking calcium supplements, may want to eat kale 2-3 hours before or after taking their supplements.

Kale and Goitrogens
Kale contains goitrogens, naturally-occurring substances in certain foods that can interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland. Individuals with already existing and untreated thyroid problems may want to avoid kale for this reason. Cooking may help to inactivate the goitrogenic compounds found in food. However, it is not clear from the research exactly what percent of goitrogenic compounds get inactivated by cooking, or exactly how much risk is involved with the consumption of kale by individuals with pre-existing and untreated thyroid problems.

Have you tried this recipe?

Purchase a big bunch of kale and remove the stems. Chop it up into small pieces and sprinkle on a teaspoon of celtic sea salt. Massage and squeeze the salt into the kale and let it sit for 10 minutes until it starts wilting.

Put 3 tablespoons of lemon juice on the kale and squeeze / massage it so it wilts some more. Next add a dash of cayenne pepper, a tablespoon olive oil, diced tomatoe, and a diced avocado.

I have found this wilted kale to be easier to digest than raw kale.

Thanks everyone. I think I will try just juicing it for now, or make sure to really wilt it with lemon juice and salt before eating. I'm pretty new to raw, so that might have something to do with it. Plus I always eat a lot of it at once because it tastes so good.

Thanks again for all the knowlege...I'll let you know if any other probs occur!

I don't think that all foods were meant to be consumed raw (unless you are an animal). Some foods are just too hard to digest in the raw state. Mike's salt & lemon treatment might help for some people, a good suggestion.

good suggestion U say Horsea
but Mike
this sounds like a LOOOOT of salt to me!...
do U eat then this whole salad???
that would be a big intake of salt!
i get stinky arpits if i ingest any salt during raw potlucks....????....
....seems to me my body can't handle it well....???....

weeell...that's my experience....& i'm SOOOOO SPEEEEEECIAL...ha ha

LOVE, Namaste, Basia

TanzaGirl - forgot to add to my above post -
how about trying to use some digestive enzymes...they help some people...

how r u doing with the kale now???

LOVE, Namaste, Basia