Spinach - All Facts And Figures About Spinach

With six vitamins, 10 minerals, protein, fiber, and omega fatty acids, spinach ranks high in the vegetable department.  There are also 13 different flavonoid compounds that make it a super antioxidant or efficient anti-cancer agent.  

Constituents Of Spinach:

• These flavonoids slow down the growth of cancer cells in the stomach, and the carotenoid present prevents cancer cells from replicating.  Eating spinach regularly will promote gastrointestinal health, and is a good prostate cancer protection.
• The Vitamin K present in spinach has a nutrient density of 482.9. This makes spinach an excellent osteoporosis prevention vegetable when eaten regularly.  A daily cup of boiled spinach will boost bone health the natural way.  Magnesium tips the nutrient density scale at 17.0 and helps promote healthy bones. A daily serving of a cup of boiled spinach will boost bone health the natural way.
• The folate in spinach breaks down the homocysteine, a chemical produced by the body that triggers fatal heart attacks and strokes.  Spinach is also a good magnesium source.  Magnesium lowers blood pressure and helps strengthen the heart against cardiovascular diseases.   Heart disease prevention from spinach is available at all times.

Health Benefits Of Eating Spinach:

• Hypertensive patients can benefit much from eating spinach the Rubisco variety.  Blood pressure is lowered within two to four hours.  This yields four peptides that inhibit the very enzyme blocked by ACE inhibiting drugs.
  A small serving of spinach for an evening meal lowers the blood pressure two to four hours afterwards.
• The vitamins present in spinach do a lot of work to help the body fight diseases.  Vitamin A, a strong antioxidant lowers the amount of free radicals in the body.  Vitamin C prevents the oxidation of cholesterol.  When cholesterol is oxidized, it builds up along the arteries, blocking them. The combined action of these vitamins acts effectively to fight cholesterol along the arteries. The same vitamins protect the colon cells from free radicals, and the folate prevents DNA damage and dangerous mutations.   
  
• The different studies on the phytonutrient flavonoids available in spinach have been found to slow down cancer cell divisions in the stomach, reduce skin cancers, and lowers the incidence of skin cancers. Spinach extracts were used in these studies in controlled laboratories.   
• Spinach is also an anti-inflammatory vegetable. It acts on osteoarthritis, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis.   Again, the Vitamin C and beta-carotene goes to work on the inflammation.  Magnesium and riboflavin lowers the number of migraine attacks in sufferers.    
• The declined brain function in old age can be prevented or minimized when the diet regularly includes spinach. Three servings of this vegetable daily will slow the decline of mental facilities by 40%.  Children given spinach regularly, gain improved mental agility and motor skills.
• There are more reasons to eat spinach, lutein and iron.  The lutein protects the eyes from macular degeneration and cataract.  Iron will improve the menstrual flow of women in their child bearing years.  Nursing mothers can benefit the iron, and pass it on to their infants through breast milk.  Iron also improves the growth rate of teens and children.