Many remember and know such a plant as spinach, according to the old cartoon about the brave sailor Papai. The cartoon character absorbed this very spinach with the banks, which made him strong and brave, helped fight the villains and win the love of beauty. Of course, a salad or casserole with spinach superhero you will not do, but the benefit to the organism of this plant will bring considerable. Include regularly spinach in your diet - the beneficial properties of this vegetable are especially valuable in early spring, during vitamin deficiency, and the rest of the year.
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About spinach
Spinach is a leafy annual plant of the Marevy family, the closest relative of the known weed is the swans. Vegetables this many-sided: when you try to recognize the "face" of spinach, you can find a variety of photos: leaves are from 2 to 30 cm in length, from 1 to 15 in width. Spinach also has several varieties, of which the most popular are only 3:
- Spinach savoy, with very dark, curly and wrinkled leaves. This sort is stored best, and it is this spinach that is most often sold in supermarkets.
- Smooth, or flat, spinach. This variety with broad and smooth leaves is usually used for processing: canned, frozen, added to soups and baby food.
- Spinach half-savoy, a hybrid variety, which is consumed and fresh, and processed.
Spinach: a bit of history
Often it seems that spinach is a vegetable that is exclusively western and has become popular not so long ago, but this plant has a long history.
The first record of spinach occurs in the first millennium AD, in ... Chinese! It is believed that spinach appeared in ancient Persia, then the traders brought the plant to India, from where it got to China. After a while spinach went on a trip to Sicily, conquered the Arab Mediterranean, and in XII came to Europe. First to Spain, after several decades - to Germany, in the XIV century - to England and France. The European population appreciated the benefits of spinach fast - this plant with the onset of spring grew first, becoming a valuable source of vitamins, saving from scurvy and improving bowel function.
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And then the spinach was recognized at court - Catherine de 'Medici, having received the title of queen of France, ordered to serve spinach on the royal table every day.
Today spinach enjoys well-deserved love in all continents and countries, however in in some parts of the world, it is still on the secondary roles, yielding to the usual parsley, dill and various kinds of salad. Meanwhile, among the leafy vegetables, spinach is a unique phenomenon.
Spinach: useful properties
The main advantage of spinach is a rare complex of vitamins: A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, E, K. And also - phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, folic acid, zinc, iodine, copper ... And in content vegetable protein spinach - just a record holder, second only to beans.
Due to this diverse composition this leafy vegetable:
- increases immunity and slows down the aging process;
- strengthens sight and blood vessels;
- is an excellent means of preventing hypertension;
- improves the work of the digestive tract, removes toxins and toxins.
Also, safely include spinach in any diet - its calorie content is only 23 kcal per 100 g of leaves. Therefore, any salads, vegetable soups with spinach, casseroles and the like are irreplaceable for those who plan to lose weight or just carefully watching themselves.
Folic acid in spinach and vitamin E of youth slow down the aging processes in the body, are indispensable for pregnant women - prevent miscarriages and abnormal fetal development.
Vitamin A makes green spinach an important part of baby food: the vegetable prevents the formation of rickets, it is extremely useful for children with developmental problems. When exhausted and recovered from illness, spinach is shown at any age.
Is rich in spinach and iodine - one of the most important trace elements for every person: iodine in the leaves of this vegetable nourishes the brain and improves the functioning of the thyroid gland, assists in the assimilation of other beneficial substances. With stress and nervous work, do not forget about the plate with green salad of spinach - it calms your nerves, copes with depression, removes toxins from the body, improves digestion.
And most importantly - all these useful properties spinach stores in any form - fresh, after freezing, with conservation and even after heat treatment (provided that you cook the leaves no more than a couple of minutes).
Spinach in Cooking
Spinach has proved to be very unusual in cooking - in addition to being an excellent ingredient for many dishes, green spinach is an excellent natural dye.
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These properties of spinach were appreciated by French cooks at the royal court - spinach juice was stained with ice cream, creams, sauces and butter. In Italy with the help of spinach, they traditionally paint paste and lasagna in green, in England - an omelet.
If you constantly grow or buy spinach - recipes with it do not need to be limited to salads and vegetable soups. Juicy grass can be added to cutlets and mixed with soft cheese for sandwiches, used as a full filling for pies and various casseroles.
If you make soup with spinach, do not digest the vegetable to preserve all the vitamins. In addition, when heat-treated from the leaves, oxalic acid is released, which in large quantities can damage. Neutralize its effect will help a little milk added to the broth, and if possible, just cut the fresh spinach into a plate with already cooked soup.
Spinach: myths and contraindications
For all its usefulness, spinach is one of the few vegetables whose properties have been overestimated in their time. Due to a small misprint in the dictionary, this leafy vegetable has long been considered the leader in iron content, but now this delusion has already been dispelled.
Iron in spinach is contained, but there is a feature - it is absorbed only with additional use of foods with an increased amount of vitamin C. In addition, the high content of calcium and zinc in the leaves also prevents the full absorption of iron. Therefore, do not consider spinach as one of the best remedies for anemia and for increasing hemoglobin. Better pay attention to other valuable qualities of spinach - and they have a lot of plants.
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If spinach regularly appears on your table - the benefits and harms of this vegetable must be taken into account.
The use of spinach for the body is proven and undeniable, the only drawback is a large content in green leaves of oxalic acid. If you have urolithiasis at any stage, kidney and liver diseases, periods of exacerbation of arthritis and rheumatism, spinach from the diet is better to exclude or at least limit.
Leafy vegetable spinach is a wonderful dish in the periods of spring avitaminosis and summer green salads and soups. Be sure to include in your menu this royal plant with a rich history, while do not forget about its features, and then spinach will bring you the most benefit.
References for further reading:
* The health benefits of spinach
* Spinach
