Spinach is a vegetable that has health benefits such as preventing anemia and colon cancer, as it is rich in folic acid and antioxidants.
This vegetable can be consumed in raw or cooked salads, in soups, stews and natural juices, being an easy and inexpensive option to enrich the diet with vitamins, minerals and fibers.
Thus, including spinach in your diet has the following benefits:
- Prevent vision loss with advancing age, as it is rich in the antioxidant lutein; Prevent colon cancer, as it contains lutein; Prevent anemia, as it is rich in folic acid and iron; Protect the skin against premature aging, as it is rich in vitamins A, C and E; Help to lose weight, for being low in calories.
To obtain these benefits, you should consume about 90g of spinach 5 times a week, which is equivalent to about 3.5 tablespoons of this cooked vegetable.
Nutritional information
The following table shows the nutritional information equivalent to 100 g of raw and sautéed spinach.
| Raw Spinach | Braised spinach | |
| Energy | 16 kcal | 67 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2.6 g | 4.2 g |
| Protein | 2 g | 2.7 g |
| Fat | 0.2 g | 5.4 g |
| Fibers | 2.1 g | 2.5 g |
| Calcium | 98 mg | 112 mg |
| Iron | 0.4 mg | 0.6 mg |
The ideal is to consume spinach in the main meals, because the absorption of its antioxidant lutein increases with the fat of the meal, normally found in the meats and oils of the preparation.
In addition, to increase the absorption of spinach iron, you should eat a citrus fruit in the dessert of the meal, such as orange, tangerine, pineapple or kiwi, for example.
Spinach juice with apple and ginger
This juice is easy to make and is a great option to prevent and fight iron deficiency anemia.
Ingredients:
- Juice of a lemon1 small apple1 shallow spoon of flaxseed1 cup of spinach1 spoon of grated ginger1 spoon of honey200 ml of water
Method of preparation:
Beat all the ingredients in a blender until the spinach is well crushed and serve chilled. See more juice recipes to lose weight.
Spinach Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs3 / 4 cup of oil1 cup of skimmed milk2 teaspoons of baking powder1 cup of whole wheat flour1 / 2 cup of wheat flour1 teaspoon of salt1 clove of grated cheese2 packs of chopped spinach, sauteed with garlic, onion and olive oil ½ cup of mozzarella cheese in pieces
Method of preparation:
To make the dough, beat the eggs, oil, garlic, milk, grated cheese and salt in the blender. Then add the sifted flour gradually and beat until smooth. Finally add the baking powder.
Sauté the spinach with garlic, onion and olive oil, and you can also add other ingredients to goto, such as tomatoes, corn and peas. In this same pan, add the chopped mozzarella cheese and the pie dough, mixing everything until smooth.
To assemble, grease a rectangular shape and pour the mixture from the pan, placing grated parmesan on top, if desired. Place in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the dough is cooked.
See other foods rich in iron.
