By It has more benefits for women than we realise
As I age, food has become my best source of nutrient value to keep me in shape and give me loads of energy, brain power and strength to be as active as I am. Without the proper foods in your diet, you can expect to be less effective in many aspects of your life. It’s a downfall if we are ageing and not getting better at what we do. But age is just a number that we can easily change at the flick of a switch – if we manipulate our nutrition. Spinach has some exceptional properties that more research should bring to light. Women of all ages can benefit by adding this abundant green veggie to their salads and smoothies because of its capability to reduce oxidative stress and help prevent cancers while lowering blood pressure. Including foods like spinach will help give us a good dose of antioxidants despite its very low caloric rate. Here’s why you should eat more spinach
One: Naturally filling
Spinach has a thylakoid compound, which might help lower your appetite. One study found that in overweight women, consuming thylakoids significantly reduced cravings. In addition, those who scored high on emotional eating benefited from the thylakoid as it naturally reduced their need for overeating sweets.
Two: Helps beat anemia
Women suffer from anemia – and those with debilitating conditions such as endometriosis will know nothing works. Women who are also vegan and vegetarian do need some added sources of iron in their vegetables, pulses and grains. We all need iron to carry oxygen through the body via our red blood cells. That process helps us to produce energy that runs all our bodily functions. Spinach delivers this – but is more so prevalent in cooked form rather than raw. For example, half a cup of cooked spinach gives you 3 milligrams of iron. Please make sure you also have either a source of animal protein or some vitamin c rich foods to go with it to aid in absorption.
Three: Spinach helps keep our bones healthy
Women are at primary risk of brittle bones and fractures as we age. Even though you may be young, start to look after your bone health by eating calcium-rich foods like spinach and lifting weights. Spinach also has the added benefits of vitamin K and manganese, which promote the health of our bones. Healthy, strong bones decrease our chances of developing osteoporosis as we hit menopause.
Four: It helps keep inflammation under control
Inflammation is good for the body when we become sick or experience some form of injury to sore muscles. Inflammation is triggered to help to heal. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, will increase our chances of developing the disease – including cancer. What helps our bodies battle chronic inflammation lies in an antioxidant called thykamine, which is abundant in spinach.
Nutritional breakdown
Eating 100 grams of raw spinach gives you 2.9 grams of protein, 3.6 grams of carbs and 2.2 grams of fibre, at only 23 calories. That’s a pretty good nutritional profile. Spinach is high in soluble fibre, which boosts our gut health and allows food to travel slowly through the digestive tract. In addition, eating spinach can combat constipation. Eat spinach as often as possible for its high nutritional profile, which helps boost iron and calcium and keep your bones healthy.
Try some of these recipes to help you a bit next time you are in the kitchen.
Chickpea sweet potato & spinach curryBacon, mushroom and spinach casseroleTuna spinach pasta Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.