Spinach

  • 13 Oct - 19 Oct, 2018
  • Mag The Weekly
  • Cookery


Nutritional Profile

Spinach provides 23 calories per 100g; 2.7mg of iron, 558mg of potassium and 2.9mg of protein.

Interesting facts

• In the 1930’s U.S spinach growers credited the cartoon Popeye with a 33% increase in domestic spinach consumption. The spinach-growing town of Crystal City, Texas, even erected a statue of Popeye in 1937.

• Medieval artists extracted green pigment from spinach to use as an ink or paint.

• China is the world’s largest spinach producer with 85% of global production.

Heath Benefits

• Several components of spinach like potassium, folate, and various antioxidants are known to provide neurological benefits to people who regularly consume it.

• Vitamin K-rich spinach helps in blood clotting by producing prothrombin and it thus, treats hemophilia. It is great for controlling excessive bleeding and it also keeps the liver functioning by stimulating the production of glycogen.

• Spinach has a very high content of potassium and a low content of sodium. This composition of minerals is very beneficial for high blood pressure patients as potassium lowers and sodium raises the blood pressure.

Study

Helen M Rasmussen, a researcher at the Cambridge University, in her 2013-report published in the Clinical Interventions in Aging revealed that spinach is a rich source of beta-carotene, lutein, and xanthene, all of which are beneficial for eyesight. Beta-carotene is supplied to the eyes by cooked spinach. It can prevent vitamin A deficiencies, itching eyes, eye ulcers, and dry eyes. This is also due to some of the anti-inflammatory properties of spinach, which can reduce the puffiness or irritation in the eyes.

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