Spinach – Popeye Magic

Spinach, for decades, has been the Waterloo of kids all over the world, the one food no mother will take a NO for. It is a cousin of the beet greens and chard family, and shares some amount of its taste with them. The best way to eat spinach is fresh, as a salad or at most, steamed. It does not taste too bad either, and as a salad, retains a sweetish taste, developing a stronger flavor after cooking.

It would be interesting to take a peep into the history of this leaf. A native of Persia, it traveled countries with traders and their foods, and was introduced to China in the seventh century (and has never left it since then). European countries got the taste of spinach only around the eleventh century through Spain. Today, it has become a mainstream food leaf in Europe and across the Americas too, but there was a time in the sixteenth century when Catherine De Medici of Florence brought along her own cooks to cook her spinach, on her marriage to the King of France. Since then, every dish prepared on a bed of spinach has been called `a la Florentine’.

All of us know that green, leafy vegetables are a great source of iron and chlorophyll; they provide a good amount of fiber and keep our insides squeaky clean. But there’s more to it than that. Every well wisher and every doctor prescribes consumption of spinach for pregnant and lactating women, menstruating women, growing children and those suffering from anemia. By now, it is common knowledge that the iron content in spinach is much better suited for human needs than red meat, and it comes without calories or fat.

In addition to providing hemoglobin for better health, iron has also been proved to sharpen the memory and smarten up the brain. At least tests on mice have showed this property, that iron rich diets in ageing rats considerable improved their analytical and motor skills. This should go up to prove that after all, Popeye was not all brawn and no brain …he was pretty smart.

Spinach also provides almost all the other nutrients known to man, for every bite, compared to any other food. To begin with, researchers have identified at least thirteen different flavonoid compounds that are present in spinach and function as anti-oxidants, basically cancer fighting agents. Scientists have gone so far as to create special spinach extracts to be able to study these compounds better. And doing their own bit, these extracts have shown some astounding results. Some of them seem to have a hand in slowing down the growth by cell-division of stomach cancer cells. Some others have shown retardation of breast and skin cancer cells. The folate present in spinach and other leafy vegetables, along with the beta-carotene, serves to develop the power of the colon cells to fight mutation and DNA damage, in the face of colon cancer cells. This brings down the risk of colon cancer in individuals who consume vegetables high on beta-carotene, as compared to those who don’t.

In addition to these cancer fighting properties, spinach also boasts of compounds that re-enforce the human body against diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and others.

A great provider of the body’s nutrition requirements, a cupful of spinach leaves takes care of almost twice the amount of vitamin K that our bones need to stay strong. Does this remind you of Popeye’s punches to Bluto? Then wait, there’s more. Spinach also provides copious amounts of vitamin A and Vitamin C, in quantities that act as guarantees against excessive cholesterol oxidation, causing diabetic heart disease.

Folate is needed by the body to break down a chemical that could lead to heart trouble (of the physiological kind) , and it is found in healthy quantities in the leafy wonder called spinach.

In addition, spinach also contains magnesium in large quantities, a cupful of fresh leaves taking care of almost 7.5 % of our daily magnesium requirement.

One advantage that we did not know of earlier is spinach’s blood pressure lowering properties. Scientific studies have proved that an entrée size spinach salad for lunch or a serving of steamed spinach with a regular dinner can serve to lower blood pressure within a maximum of four hours.

In addition to all these things, there are nutrients present in spinach, that help fight against inflammation based diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. This may, however not be true for all those afflicted with these, because in only some cases, the beta carotene and vitamin C present in spinach helps to fight against the inflammatory properties of these diseases.

To get the best out of a bunch of spinach, make sure that the leaves look fresh and tender and have no coating of slime on them. The stalks also shouldn’t have any trace of yellow. It can be stored in a refrigerator for up to four days if, loosely packed in a plastic bag, unwashed.

Before consuming, cooked or uncooked, make sure it is thoroughly washed, at least two to three times in running water, till the last traces of dirt are removed. It is not a good idea to wash spinach after chopping it, because that will clean away a lot of nutrients too. Instead, destalk the leaves and swirl around in a large bowl full of luke-warm water, to loosen and clean off any dirt stuck to the leaves. Throw away the water and repeat the procedure till the water in the bowl is clear. The last dip could preferably with a tablet of chlorine.

Best served just blanched or steamed, the spinach leaf instantly provides the eye tonic for your dinner, with its vibrant green that can set off any food - visually and health wise.