Are you looking for a nutritious and delicious way to add some green to your diet? Spinach is a great option! Not only is it packed with essential nutrients, it’s also incredibly versatile and can be used in a variety of dishes. From salads to soups, smoothies to omelets, it can be incorporated in so many ways. In this post, we’ll cover the health benefits of these nutritious leaves, how to incorporate it into your diet, and some delicious recipes you can try at home. So, whether you’re looking to add some extra nutrition to your meals or just want to get creative in the kitchen, spinach is the way to go!
Spinach Nutrition Facts and Calories Chart
Spinach is an incredibly nutritious food, packed with vitamins and minerals. It is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, iron, and calcium. Leaves are low in calories and fat, and contains no cholesterol. Eating spinach can help boost your immune system, improve your vision, and provide antioxidants that may help reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases. Eating spinach can also help lower your blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and improve your bone and joint health. Nutritional value per 100 g spinach:
- Biotin: 20 mcg
- Calcium: 99 mg
- Carbohydrates (Carbs): 7 g
- Chloride: 248 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Choline: 54.3 mg
- Chromium: 6.5 mcg
- Copper: 0.2 mg
- Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
- Energy (Calories): 23 kcal
- Fat: 0.4 g
- Iodine: 3.5 mcg
- Iron: 2.7 mg
- Magnesium: 79 mg
- Manganese: 0.9 mg
- Molybdenum: 34.8 mcg
- Pantothenic Acid: 0.2 mg
- Phosphorus: 49 mg
- Potassium: 558 mg
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Saturated fat: 0.1 g
- Selenium: 1.4 mcg
- Sodium: 79 mg
- Sugars: 0.4 g
- Vitamin A: 9377 IU
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin): 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 0.6 mg
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B6: 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B9 (Folate / Folic Acid): 194 mcg
- Vitamin B12: 0 mcg
- Vitamin C: 28.1 mg
- Vitamin D: 0 mcg
- Vitamin E: 0.9 mg
- Vitamin K: 483.2 mcg
- Water: 91.4 g
- Zinc: 0.4 mg
Spinach In India
Fresh, young, tender leaves of spinach are delicious in salads or can be steamed with a little water until tender. This is the vegetable of purported strength, which has been forever immortalized by that colorful cartoon character, Popeye the Sailor Man.
- Scientific Binomial: Spinacia oleracea
- Common English: Garden Spinach
- Ayurvedic: Paalankikaa / Paalankya / Paalakyaa
- Unani: Paalak
- Sanskrit
- Hindi / Urdu: Palak / Poi
- Bengali: Pui Shaakh
- Marathi: Palak / Velbondi / Sag
- Telugu: Paalak
- Tamil: Keerai / Pasala Keerai
- Gujarati
- Kannada: Kempu Baayi Basalae
- Malayalam: Palak Cheera
- Oriya
- Punjabi / Sindhi
- Assamese
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Manipuri
- Dogri
- Bhojpuri
Home Remedies
Spinach is a good food remedy for constipation as it rich in fiber as well as magnesium. 1 cup of this green vegetable contains about 280 mg of calcium and 1 g of fiber. Vitamin K is more ingredient found in spinach which helps blood clotting and bone formation. Apart from this it is rich in folic acid, manganese, alpha lipoic acid, calcium, iron, fluorine, legnin. These all ingredients makes spinach useful in the treatment of acidity, acne, allergies, arteriosclerosis, anemia, arthritis, bronchitis, constipation, diabetes, eczema, epilepsy, eye disorders, gout, halitosis, heart disease, influenza, jaundice, menstrual disorders, obesity, piles, prostate troubles, rheumatism, and tonsillitis.
- Pyorrhea: Fresh raw leaves juice is also valuable food remedy for the prevention and treatment of pyorrhea because of its beneficial effect on the teeth and gums. This effect is generally enhanced if the spinach juice is taken in combination with carrot juice. A permanent aid for this affliction has been found in the use of natural raw foods and in drinking an ample quantity of carrot and spinach juice.
- Body Odor: Green, leafy vegetables are rich in chlorophyll, which has a powerful deodorizing effect in body. So try eating plenty of spinach regularly to fight body odor.
- Rich Iron Source: Chlorophyll is also a good source of iron, and many times Ayurveda does suggest using chlorophyll, generally in the form of spinach. Eating spinach once a day is an old-time remedy for relieving fatigue, and we all know what it did for Popeye. Spinach contains potassium as well as many B vitamins, all of which are important to energy metabolism.
- Eye Strengthener: Spinach is good for eye health as it contains vitamin A and carotenoids lutein. These carotenoids have been reported to lower the risk of developing cataracts.
- Diabetes: For those with either diabetes mellitus (adults) or juvenile onset diabetes (young people), there is some nutritional benefit to be expected from spinach, since it contains manganese. Several handfuls of leaves should be well washed and pulled apart, leaf from leaf. Put these into a saucepan with a little kelp, 1 tbsp. each of lemon and lime juice and 1-1/2 cups of water. Simmer very slowly on very low heat for at least an hour. Then strain out all of the juice through several layers of cheesecloth. Take 1/2 cup before each meal by at least 30 minutes, twice daily.
- Gastritis: In the treatment of gastritis, take 200 ml. of spinach juice mixed with 300 ml. of carrot juice. In neuritis spinach have proved valuable, as this vegetable is rich in elements, the deficiency of which has led to this disease.
- Energy Booster: The quickest and most effective way in which the body can obtain and assimilate these elements is by drinking daily at least half a liter of the combined raw juices of carrot and spinach.
- Hair Loss: To treat hair loss through deficiencies, try drinking a mixture of lettuce and spinach juice. It is said to help the growth of hair if it is drunk to the extent of half a liter a day.
- Asthma: To prevent asthma try taking 1/3 cup of spinach juice with a pinch of pippali, twice a day on regular basis.
Side Effects and Precaution
Cut out spinach from diet in case of incontinence and see if it makes a difference. These foods are rich in bladder-irritating compounds called oxalates. In case of kidney stones (stones are made of calcium oxalate) do not eat spinach as it is high in oxalic acid, a substance that inhibits your body’s ability to absorb iron. If you have had uric-acid stones in the past, you need to keep your urine as alkaline as possible to prevent a recurrence, so don’t eat more than one serving of spinach a day.