Spinach is a unique plant, if not paradoxical. How can these leaves with their 23 kilocalories in 100 grams be so nutritious and healthy? Perhaps you remember the cartoon about Popeye the Sailor, who became incredibly strong after eating a jar of spinach? Well, it's almost true about spinach. Of course, it won't bring us superpowers, but it will surely strengthen our strength and health.
The beneficial properties of spinach for the human body are truly impressive. First of all, spinach is extremely rich in vitamins, especially vitaminomio and beta-carotene. It also contains a significant dose of vitaminin, a strong antioxidant that improves skin and hair and inhibits the development of atherosclerosis. Folic acid (vitamin B9) also strengthens blood vessels, and spinach contains a decent dose of this vitamin.
Another important antioxidant that spinach is rich in is lutein. In particular, this pigment is very important in protecting our eye cells from oxidative stress. But separately I would like to note the off the charts level of vitamin aai (in 100 grams 600% of the daily norm). It plays a role in the synthesis of proteins that maintain normal blood clotting levels, as well as in the synthesis of proteins that are needed to transport nutrients to organs and tissues.
Next up is protein. Spinach is not a record holder for the amount of protein in the plant world (it is far from beans, for example), but 3 grams per serving, which contains only 23 kilocalories, is a good indicator. The benefits of spinach for men who work out professionally at the gym will be if not indispensable, then definitely tangible. Well, of course, spinach is most famous for its iron, with about 3 grams of iron in 100 grams of raw leaves. This, you must agree, is quite an impressive figure (15% of the daily norm). Besides, vitamin C in spinach helps to assimilate iron. Let me remind you that iron is needed to deliver oxygen through blood vessels to different tissues of the body and to remove carbon dioxide from there. But, of course, it also has many other important functions: participation in hematopoiesis, immune response, production of thyroid hormones, etc.
The benefits of spinach for women, as well as for men, were found in one study (http://www.berkeleytest.com/scientific-articles.html). It was found to reduce blood pressure in subjects between the ages of 38 and 69.
Spinach is available year-round, but it is in season in the spring (March through June). It is well known for its nutritional qualities and has a reputation for its remarkable ability to restore energy, increase vitality and improve blood quality.
The benefits of frozen spinach
The health benefits of frozen spinach lie in the fact that we interact with it in its already chopped form, which, admittedly, is much more convenient. It can easily be added to any dish or cooked as a stand-alone. Yes, frozen spinach won't give you the same flavor as fresh leaves, but it wins in versatility. Plus, all of its health benefits are preserved.
The benefits of spinach leaves
I would like to separately note the considerable presence in spinach of other elements - potassium and magnesium, which are necessary for heart health (a serving of spinach contains 16 and 20% of daily allowance of these elements respectively). The useful properties of spinach leaves are also that they are extremely nutritious. You can make toast or salads with them and snack on them.
Useful recipes from spinach
All in all, spinach is an extraordinarily nutritious and healthy plant. But apart from that, we have something else to love it for, because it is amazingly tasty! Its dense, fleshy and at the same time tender and soft leaves cannot be confused with anything else. They can be stewed, baked, and added to soups, or you can eat them fresh. I, for example, really like spinach and fennel salad.
Ingredients: large bunch of spinach, green apple, fennel (small fruit or half a large fruit), small handful of sesame seeds, juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt.
Preparation:
If spinach leaves are large, tear them up with your hands. Put spinach, finely chopped apple and fennel fruit in a salad bowl, add sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil. So that we can fully prepare the salad according to the recipe, the only thing left is to salt it, after which our delicious and healthy salad is ready to eat.
Now that you know the benefits of spinach for the human body, it will seem even tastier. Eat spinach and be healthy!
Contraindications and harms of spinach
There is a suspicion that not all bacteria are destroyed from spinach leaves even if you wash them. However, the modern industry allows you not to worry about this issue. The risk is minimized because they try to ship the produce to the store more or less clean.
Simply keep spinach, like other greens, in the refrigerator and try to eat it within three to four days of opening the package.
You must be logged in to post a comment.