Spinach - Hollywood’s Favorite Superfood

Spinach is one of the most famous vegetables in the world. Thanks the cartoon character Popeye spinach was front and center in Hollywood for years. Popeye normally a scrawny male sailor only needed to pop open a can of spinach and suddenly he became ripped with muscles ready to do good. But is spinach really all that healthy? While it won’t grow your muscles as fast as Popeye’s, spinach is definitely one of the world’s superfoods.

To be marketed as a superfood, spinach has to not only be one of the most nutritious foods you can find, but the claims marketers make about spinach have to be backed by scientific research. So far science has found plenty of reasons to make spinach a superfood – some of those reasons Popeye must have already known.

Spinach is known for its high iron content, which is important to the body because it carries oxygen throughout the body and to the muscles. Eat just three and a half ounces of spinach and you’ll get almost a quarter of the iron you need in one day.

Also found in spinach is a healthy amount of phytonutrients. These nutritional compounds contain antioxidant properties that protect cells from damage, which is important for preventing cancer and other diseases. Another phytonutrient found in spinach is lutein, which is important for eyesight. So while mom may have said to eat your carrots to improve your vision, it may actually been spinach what you needed the most. Lutein also protects your eyes from free radicals that are caused by sun damage.

Many diets today are deficient in vitamin E, and what do you know, spinach just happens to have plenty of the vitamin. As an antioxidant, vitamin E, protects us from free radicals that damage cells and can cause cancer. Studies have been able to show that spinach may help prevent colon cancer as well as help prevent tumor growth in lung and breast cancer. Some medical research also supports that vitamin E can help prevent heart disease. So mix in spinach with your salad next time to get more of this essential vitamin.

There are several B vitamins found in spinach. These B vitamins help convert the food we eat to energy, reduce stress and are important in the development of our RNA and DNA.

Another potent vitamin found in Spinach is vitamin K. Vitamin K is very important because it is necessary for blood clotting to occur. Vitamin K also helps keep our bones strong and healthy.

Many other minerals besides iron can be found in spinach as well – including magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc and more. Manganese is especially important to spinach because it helps vitamins B, C and E perform their functions in the body – all of these vitamins are also found in spinach.