All About Spinach. Check it Out!

If we talk about spinach, we may remember with Popeye. A famous cartoon characters who love ate spinach as his power.

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm strong to the "Finich"
'Cause I eats me spinach
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man

(Written by Sammy Lerner, quoted in Popeye: The First Fifty Years by Bud Sagendorf)

I thought start from kids, adult until older knew him so well. Do we have to follow him? Before we decide to eat spinach, we have to know this vegetable closer than before. Please continue to read…..

Spinach is kind of vegetables known by the scientific name Amaranthus spp (in Greek, Amaranth means eternal).  Spinach was originally known as an ornamental plant. But after many people recognize the benefit of spinach for health and contain various nutrients, this plant also promoted as a food source as well.  Actually spinach has about 60 genera that are divided into approximately 800 species. However, this plant divided into two kinds of spinach, wild spinach and cultivation spinach.

I know, maybe some of us knew this plants very well as more than just vegetables, because this is the king of vegetables. We may have different perception about this. I’ll try to explain later. In 100 grams of spinach contained 0.7 g fiber, 92.9 grams water, 90 mg calcium, 29.0 mg phosphorus, 3.8 mg iron, 2.7 g carbohydrates, 2.1 grams protein, 131.0 mg sodium, 0.2 grams fat, 0.15 mg vitamin B2, 0.08 mg vitamin B1, 0.7 mg niacin, 76.7 mg vitamin C, 385.0 mg potassium, 4080 mcg beta-carotene.  Because of high nutritional content, spinach is often referred to as the “King of vegetables”.

The content of folic acid and oxalic acid inside spinach make this vegetable also good to help various health problems, such as: lowering cholesterol, prevent gum disease, treat eczema, asthma, Face skin treatment, scalp and hair. The most beneficial of spinach is treating less passionate and lethargic as a sign of lack of blood. 

Moreover, spinach contains high fiber which is very good for our digestion and other diseases, like: constipation, heart disease, stroke, and problems concerning blood pressure and blood vessels. Spinach is known contain lots of protein, fat, carbohydrate, substances iron, potassium, calcium, routine, chlorophyll, as well as vitamins A, B, and C. With these substances, spinach is good to improve kidney function and digestion, low blood pressure and anemia. Spinach leaves can be used to purify the blood after the birth, strengthens hair roots, treat low blood pressure, and kidney failure.

In addition to the benefits above, spinach has benefit to prevent loss of eyesight due to old age (macular degeneration), cancer, cataracts and birth defects. Spinach is a great source of lutein and folate, which helps prevent heart disease and babies born with disabilities.

Constipation, Sore Gums, Peptic:

Ingredients: a bunch of spinach, a spoonful of honey
Step I: Clean spinach and cut its roots. Put in the juicer and then drink this juice about a liter half a day. Do it for a few days.
Step II: After being washed and cut, put in the juicer until smooth. Add a half cup of boiled water and one tablespoon of honey. After that squeezed and filtered. Drink three times a day about half a cup each time.

Skin face and hair treatment:

Ingredients:a handful of turmeric, a bunch of spinach leaves
Step I: cleaned the spinach and then blend. After that squeeze and take the water. Take turmeric after cleaning. Cut into small pieces and put into blender. Add water as needed. Squeeze the juice of turmeric and leave the water. Mix the turmeric and spinach juice. Add a little warm water. Use to wash your face or shampooing your hair.
Step II: Enter a bunch of spinach that had been cleaned to the juicer. Use spinach juice to scrub all parts of your face around the corners of the eyes, forehead, lips and chin. Do this treatment about five minutes when you wake in the morning and at night before bed. If necessary rinse with cold water.

Bronchitis, Anemia, Fever, Whitish, Liver Disorders:

Ingredients: a bunch of spinach, a spoonful of honey
Method:Enter the spinach in a blender by adding a little boiled water. Squeeze the spinach and add honey into it. Drink once a day.

Though the spinach has a lot of benefit, but it still has limitations. We know the weakness of spinach in cooking process. We should not cook spinach with an aluminum pan. Aluminum can caused poison due the reaction of iron which was contained in spinach.

We should not eat spinach more than five hours after cooking. And like other vegetables, spinach is also not good if cooked too long on the fire because it causes a lot of wasted nutrients.

Do not be reheated! Spinach containing iron or ferrous (Fe2 +) which is good for the body. However, if reheated, there’s an oxidation process in spinach. Oxidation is the process of binding of oxygen. So Fe2 + will be changed to Fe3 + or ferric compounds that are toxic to the body.

Eaten immediately! We know that spinach containing iron, but spinach also contains nitrate (NO3). But if too long contact with air, this substance would turn into nitrite (NO2) which compounds are colorless, odorless, and poisoned. So, spinach should be eaten once cooked.

Choose fresh spinach. When the spinach is stored in the refrigerator for two weeks, nitrite levels will rise to 300 mg per kg. In other words, within 1 day of storage, nitrite compounds will be rise at 7 percent.

The most important thing to note is for those who suffer from gout and rheumatism. They should not consume vegetables this type because it can cause intense pain and excessive uric acid. This occurs because the high purine substances in spinach. Purine is then converted into uric acid in the body.

This is one of my favorite snack. Please rest for a while and I'll share delicious recipes about "Crispy Spinach Snack". I hope this could be a good alternative as healthy menu, but still delicious and "crunchy" made by spinach.

Ingredients:
- Two bunch of spinach, choose the broadleaf
- 200 grams of rice flour
- Water
- Cooking oil

Spices:
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped well
- 2 cm turmeric, rough cut
- 1 teaspoon of coriander
- 5 candlenut, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt

Method:
- Clean spinach leaves one by one, and then set aside.
- All spices material washed then milled until smooth
- Prepare a rather wide bowl, mix rice flour and water, stirring until well blended, but not too watery
- Enter the spice paste into the dough and stir well again
- Prepare a frying pan, heat the cooking oil
- Dip one by one spinach leaves into the dough of flour and put into hot cooking oil
- Fry until browned and they are crisp.
- Crisp spinach snacks are ready to serve

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