2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
This leafy vegetable is a favorite of many of us. It is famous mainly for its high iron content, but this is far from its most important benefit. Spinach is a real treasure of nutrients that are extremely useful for our health.
In addition to iron, magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, and many other phytochemicals that prevent cancer, spinach contains concentrated solar energy in the form of chlorophyll and is rich in folic acid and lutein.
Folic acid is involved in the formation of amino acids that make up all living cells. It also promotes the regeneration of red blood cells, tissue healing and the proper functioning of the immune system. Folic acid plays an essential role in the metabolism of the brain and nervous system. It is believed to protect against some forms of cancer, and its deficiency favors the onset of depression.
The content of vitamin C in spinach depends on the season and is highest in winter, especially if it is detached from our garden. The more rotten the spinach leaves, the less of the valuable vitamin we can extract from them by eating them.
Lutein has a beneficial effect on our vision, preventing cataracts and macular degeneration. As it is not synthesized in the body, lunein must be obtained through food.
Be careful with nitrates in spinach
Spinach and other green leafy vegetables are important food sources consisting of nitrogen and oxygen. Once in the human diet, water-soluble nitrates are largely excreted unchanged by the kidneys. But bacteria in the digestive system are able to convert some of them into other compounds - nitrites.
Greenhouse vegetables are one of the main sources of nitrates. That is why garden ones should always be preferred.
It is important not to forget to soak the plant in water and wash the leaves under running water for a long time. It is good to consume soon after we get it. It is always better to throw the first water in which you blanch the spinach. Its heat treatment should be short, because prolonged cooking leads to a greater likelihood of the conversion of nitrates into nitrites.
Spinach should be present often in our menu and it is good to be in these food combinations.
Eggs with spinach - a great combination for eyesight, protect adults from blindness. The nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin in egg and spinach help the eyes filter out short light rays and other retinal irritants.
Walnuts and spinach - this combination protects against hypertension and diabetes. A diet rich in magnesium prevents the development of metabolic syndrome with 4 main symptoms: obesity in the abdomen, hypertension, elevated blood glucose.
The richest in this mineral are spinach, walnuts, bananas, dried fruits and oats.
Folk recipes with spinach
For quick recovery after a serious illness and anemia 1 tbsp. fresh spinach leaves are boiled for 10 minutes in 1 tsp. boiling water and leave for 1 hour. Strain and take the resulting decoction in a tea cup 4 times a day.
In case of problems with the gastrointestinal tract:
- if you take 200 ml of freshly squeezed spinach juice every day for a week, you will cure the most severe constipation;
- carrot juice mixed with spinach juice (1: 1) helps to solve problems with the colon;
- Spinach juice is also used to treat gastritis and enterocolitis
If you drink spinach juice (200 g) mixed with carrot juice (300 g), you will forget about the bad breath from the oral cavity.
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