Remember Popeye? Know the Healthy Reasons to Love Spinach!
26-09-2017 | Posted By: Chhavi | 2736 View(s)
Spinach owes a lot of its popularity to a very popular kid show in the 90s called “Popeye – the sailor man”. I can say this with absolute certainty because I was one of those kids who watched Popeye and started eating spinach; even though I didn’t like the taste very much back then. I remember always asking my mother for some extra spinach in my lunch box, and although I don’t remember her expressions, I think we can safely assume that she must have been positively surprised to witness at least one good outcome from my love for cartoons.
Green veggies are never people favourite, but I still never shy away from eating a healthy serving of spinach. All of it, because of Popeye – who would eat a can of spinach and gain the strength to fight off bad people.
I do wonder though – did Popeye lie or is spinach really that good for your health?
1. Spinach is stuffed with lots of good things
I don’t think eating a can full of spinach will make you as strong as popeye himself, but regular servings of spinach will definitely help you strengthen your body.
Spinach contains vitamin k. Vitamin k makes your bones stronger. Leafy vegetables are the best sources of vitamin k, so if you are someone who usually separates the veggies from your food, then you might need to read the next few lines.
Vitamin k helps your body to make proteins which in turn help you maintain healthy bones and tissues.
Vitamin k promotes the synthesis of osteocalcin, the protein that is essential for maintaining the strength and density of bones.
Spinach is also a good alternative to dairy products as it gives a proper substitute to calcium, thus preventing the occurrence of osteoporosis.
Vitamins k also aids in the process of blood clotting. If you don’t have enough vitamin k, you may run the risk of bleeding too much.
Vitamin a, b2 and c also come along.
Vitamin a is helpful in maintaining healthy vision and a healthy skin and more. It is a potent antioxidant, but more on this in the next point.
Vitamin b2 is responsible for maintaining healthy blood cells. It also boosts energy levels and facilitates the metabolism process.
Vitamin c helps the body to form and maintain connective tissue, including bones, blood vessels, and skin.
2. Spinach is rich in anti-oxidants
Spinach gives us an abundance of antioxidants which are extremely beneficial for our body.
Anti-oxidants such as beta-cartone which you can find in spinach, aid in preventing cancer causing agents. Researchers at queensland institute of medical research found green leafy vegetables such as spinach is associated with the reduction in the risk of skin cancer. Vitamin A as we previously discussed is a powerful antioxidant and is useful in maintaining a strong immune system and fighting off bacteria, viruses, toxins, and other harmful invaders which can cause disease and illness.
3. Spinach is good for your skin and your hair.
The antioxidants we obtain from spinach have a few more benefits. The antioxidants destroy free radicals present in your body. These free radicals harm the skin on the human body and cause pre-mature ageing. Without these free radicals, your skin’s degeneration will slow down, and you’ll look younger.
If that wasn’t enough, applying it in form of paste on your face will help in removing the dirt, clearing up the acne and refreshing and rejuvenating it from within.
Spinach is also a good source of iron. Hair loss happens when you have a deficiency of iron. Iron minerals strengthen the hair strands by facilitating the blood flow to the hair follicles.
4. Spinach promotes weight loss
People are so often concerned with weight gain that they try to eat as little as possible. Actually, what they should do is – try and eat it as regularly as possible.
Spinach along with being nutritious also has a good quantity of fat-soluble dietary fibres. These fibres facilitate digestion, similar to the effect drinking water has.
Spinach itself is low in calories and fat. Because of this double benefit, spinach is often recommended by dieticians to help in weight loss.
5. Lowers blood pressure and the risk of hypertension
Spinach contains peptides and heart-healthy nutrients like potassium, folate, and magnesium. These aid in lowering and maintaining blood pressure levels.
Hypertension is responsible for causing kidney disease, heart ailments and stroke.
Consuming spinach effectively reduces the chances of hypertension and goes a long way in reducing stress and anxiety.
There is enough evidence here to suggest that spinach can be very beneficial for your health if included in your diet.
If you still need an easy way to eat more of this great green? Then try mixing fresh spinach leaves into salads or adding them to sandwiches. With the taste blended amongst other eatables, you wouldn’t even know you are consuming it.
Surely after getting to know about so many benefits of spinach, you shouldn’t require these tricks, instead, add some extra spinach on your plate whenever you get the chance. That would make Popeye really proud.
