Spinach has a scientific name Spinacia oleracea, belongs to the Amaranth family. Its English name is often called Spinach, our society still often calls it by many names such as spinach, spinach, …
Image of spinach (Spinach)
first Source
Spinach comes from Persia, some Middle Eastern countries and even China. Because it is quite easy to grow and fast growing, this vegetable is very popular for growing vegetables for daily consumption.
They often appear in the menus and meals of people in the Mediterranean region, Southeast Asia and some Asian countries in general.
2 Shape features
Spinach is a herbaceous plant, the average height of the stem is only about 30-35cm. The leaves of this plant are interlocked, the surface of the leaves has prominent veins like duck feet. The leaves are roughly triangular or rhombic, the leaves are evenly distributed from base to tip. However, only one leaf appears per branch.
Today, there are three main types of spinach in the world:
– Savory cabbage: Is a vegetable with dark green color, slightly curly leaves, the world mainly uses this vegetable.
– Cabbage: Is a vegetable with flat leaves, smooth surface, wide leaf surface and easy to wash (Our Vietnamese use mainly this vegetable).
– Hybrid cabbage: It is a hybrid vegetable between savory cabbage and regular cabbage.
3 Is spinach the same as spinach and spinach?
Because of its resemblance to spinach, many people mistake spinach for spinach, when in fact it is completely different.
– About the family: Spinach belongs to the Amaranth family, while spinach belongs to the Mang Toi family.
– About the structure of the leaves: Spinach leaves are quite fragile and break easily, while succulent spinach leaves rot easily if they are flooded with water.
– In terms of shape: Spinach leaves have veins similar to spinach leaves, while spinach leaves have fewer veins, the leaves are heart-shaped or egg-shaped.
– About the characteristics: Spinach leaves only have one leaf on each branch, while spinach leaves can grow in large numbers on the same branch.
Spinach is spinach in Vietnam
4 Nutritional value in spinach
Spinach is one of the vegetables with high nutritional content, very nutritious for humans. According to many statistics, every 100g of spinach will contain the following nutrients:
– Calories: 23g
– Water: 91%
– Protein: 2.9g
– Carbs: 3.6g
– Sugar: 0.4g
– Fiber: 2.2g
– Fat: 0.4g
– Other essential minerals and vitamins.
There:
– Fiber: Insoluble fiber, which improves the digestive ability of the stomach, prevents the risk of constipation, and protects a healthier digestive system.
Vitamins: Spinach contains a number of important vitamins such as Vitamins A, C, and K that help brighten eyes, strengthen immune system, improve skin health, prevent blood thinning, and nourish the body. ..
– Minerals: Spinach contains important minerals such as Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium,… good for muscle and joint health.
– Several other beneficial active ingredients: Lutein, Nitrate, Quercetin, Zeaxanthin, … are active ingredients commonly found in spinach, which have the ability to help fight oxidation, prevent the formation of free radicals that have harmful, damaging effects, improve cardiovascular health.
5 What is the effect of spinach?
Thanks to the valuable nutritional components in spinach, it will help bring many benefits to the user’s health and support the treatment of a number of different ailments. However, there is a substance in spinach, namely oxalic acid, which is not good for the kidneys, so if anyone has kidney stones, it is best to avoid eating this vegetable. Spinach is good for people with anemia, iron deficiency, good for the digestive system. Some of the important uses of spinach can be mentioned as:
a) Fights free radicals and oxidation
Spinach has the ability to help the body fight oxidation and prevent the formation of harmful free radicals. As a result, the body will be healthier and less tired, even when working in a stressful environment.
b) Improve eye health
Spinach is rich in Zeaxanthin and Lutein, which are two ingredients that help stimulate the body to produce carotenoids for healthier eyes. In addition, these two active ingredients also have the ability to help prevent the risk of macular degeneration, cataracts, visual disturbances, and even blindness.
Spinach has many health benefits
C) Support cancer prevention and treatment
Thanks to the prevention of the development of free radicals and anti-oxidation, spinach will help our body to prevent cancer and support the definitive treatment of dangerous diseases at hand. Several studies have shown that the size of cancer cells is significantly reduced when we eat spinach regularly and scientifically.
d) Improve blood pressure and heart health
With its high nitrate content, spinach can help regulate blood pressure in the body, preventing the risk of cardiovascular disease and related complications. It also helps prevent the formation of blood clots and cholesterol build up on the walls of blood vessels.
e) Helps strengthen bones and joints
With abundant trace minerals such as Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, … will help our bone system and joints healthier. Thus preventing the risk of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and related diseases.
f) Good for the fetus
Pregnant women during pregnancy using spinach in moderation will help supplement iron and folic acid. These are two super important ingredients that contribute to a healthy fetus, significantly reducing birth defects and diseases that the fetus may face.
6 Spinach side effects if used the wrong way
Although it has many effects that are good for health, but if used in excess and used in the wrong way, spinach can have bad effects on the body in some people, which can be mentioned as:
a) Kidney stone disease
Since spinach is rich in calcium and oxalate radicals, it is very easy to form kidney stones if you eat too many vegetables during the day. Therefore, patients who are being treated for kidney stones should absolutely not use spinach.
b) Blood clotting
The content of vitamin K in spinach will help prevent blood thinning and hemophilia. However, if you eat too many vegetables will make the blood clot easily, creating conditions for the formation of blood clots that clog blood vessels, potentially increasing the risk of stroke.
c) Abdominal bloating, abdominal distension
Spinach has a high content of unsaturated fiber, so if eaten in moderation it will be good for the digestive system. However, if you eat too much, it will inadvertently overload the digestive system, causing gas and bloating.
d) Adverse interactions with drugs
Some medical drugs may not be compatible with Spinach when you take it. This causes a loss of effectiveness of the drug and makes the disease take longer to heal. So if you are on prescription medication, you should not eat spinach regularly.
7 Spinach refuses certain foods
– Tofu: When eating tofu with spinach, the oxalic acid in spinach reacts with the calcium in the beans, which will affect the absorption of calcium by the body, further creating deposits that are harmful to human health.
– Cucumber: In cucumber, there is a catalyst (decomposer) of vitamin C, so when eating cucumber with spinach, that catalyst loses the use of vitamin C in spinach.
– Peaches: Do not eat peach seeds with spinach because it will make the body unable to absorb calcium and iron, from which these substances will form stones in the human body.
– Cheese: When eating cheese with spinach, the oxalic acid reacts with the calcium contained in the cheese to form calcium oxalate, which interferes with the body’s absorption of zinc, causing the condensate amount of zinc to be converted to the form of calcium oxalate. body’s digestive system.
– Vinegar: The oxalic acid in spinach, when combined with the organic acids in vinegar, can interfere with the body’s absorption of calcium, and even damage tooth enamel.
8 How to use and cook spinach
Because vegetables are good for health, there will be many different ways to use them so that the benefits of vegetables for the body can be maximized. When cooked, the oxalate content will decrease from 30 to 87%, therefore, it is best to limit eating raw spinach, preferably boiled, steamed, sautéed during meals. Some of the most popular ways to prepare spinach using spinach:
a) Making juice
Many people have a hobby of drinking vegetable juices, this is a good thing because it provides abundant beneficial nutrients for health, helping us to have enough energy to work on a new day. You can squeeze the spinach juice to drink straight, or squeeze it with some fruit to make it easier to drink.
b) Sauteed spinach with garlic
Like many other popular vegetables in our country, spinach can be fried with garlic to eat every day. Garlic is a healthy spice, when combined with spinach it will increase the body’s resistance so that it makes us healthier.
c) Stir-fried spinach with beef
If you don’t like sautéing spinach with garlic, you can also sauté vegetables with beef, both of which are good for your health. Beef is a high protein meat that is beneficial for the body and provides abundant energy.
d) Making mixed salad
Spinach mixed with cucumber, lettuce, lettuce and several other vegetables is perfect if you want to make a healthy salad. This will ensure that all the nutrients are retained in the vegetables without loss. However, you need to wash the vegetables thoroughly before mixing.
e) Cooking soup
Spinach can also be used to cook soups with seafood, meat, shellfish, shrimp, … very suitable. How to prepare depends on your preferences and those of your family members.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Eva.vn – Read the original article here
