Byte of Spinach by Patty "Sassy" Knutson

Byte of Spinach
By Patty "Sassy" Knutson

SPINACH

Can you remember the first time you were fed spinach? Most likely not, since your parents probably tried to feed you pureed spinach before you could object. They just knew that the day would approach soon enough when you might turn up your nose and "just say no" to spinach. I remember how let down I felt by Popeye for leading me to try a food that was so disgusting tasting.

It wasn't until I went vegetarian that I actually started to appreciate the flavor of spinach. My tastebuds were going through a lot of changes, as most of ours do when we go veg, and suddenly spinach didn't seem so bad. In fact, it tasted downright good.

But it wasn't until I started understanding the importance of a healthy vegan diet that the main purpose of spinach upon this earth really hit home for me.

Since spinach is a dark leafy green, you may already know that it's an excellent source of calcium, protein and Omega 3 Fatty Acids. But let's talk about the most dense nutrient you'll discover in spinach...

IT'S TIME FOR A NUTRITIONAL QUICKIE! Wink

Spinach is a jaw-dropping source of vitamin K. It amazes me that 1 cup of cooked spinach will provide you with over 1000% of your body's daily requirement for vitamin K. That's right, that was 3 zeros. Zoinkseys!

But what exactly does vitamin K do for you. Is it really all THAT important?

Vitamin K controls blood clotting. When a blood vessel is damaged, the ability for your blood to clot can mean the difference between healing or bleeding to death. Vitamin K also enables your body to seal off an area that's been infected or injured so it can get to work healing more quickly.

Vitamin K also helps to ensure your bones stay strong and healthy. Personally, I found it interesting to learn how this works. There is a protein in your bones (osteocalcin) which helps calcium molecules to grab a hold and anchor themselves. I don't know about you, but I certainly want any calcium molecules floating around my body to stick around. :O)

But if your body isn't producing the vitamin K it needs, then this protein in your bones (osteocalcin) doesn't actually activate and your poor little calcium molecules have no strength to hold on. So away they go leaving you at greater risk for smaller, weaker bones which can lead to bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

It's important for you to know that your body produces the vitamin K it needs, in most cases, through bacteria in your stomach. But the jury is still out on how much is actually absorbed in our system. It's interesting to note that people who do not regularly eat a green leafy lettuce salad or green leafy vegetables are likely to be deficient in their intake of vitamin K. In fact, only about 1 in 4 Americans meet the goal for vitamin K intake from food. 1 in 4! Of course, vegans have a leg up in this competition due to the number of green leafies we eat compared to other diets.

So it's very important to ensure you're getting enough dietary vitamin K via your vitamin k-enriched foods. And it just so happens that spinach (along with other leafy greens) is a delicious way to do just that.

Some people may have a more difficult time creating this vitamin due to unhealthy intestinal bacteria. For instance, antibiotics can have a negative effect on the production of vitamin K since they kill off not only the bad bacteria in your gut, but the good bacteria as well. Remember, anytime you use antibiotics, be sure to follow up with lots of probiotics (like acidophilus) to build the healthy bacteria back up. :O)

Also, many times the elderly have a difficult time producing vitamin K, and it's interesting to note the connection with the number of bone fractures that occur in the elderly. So the amount of vitamin K you ingest as you get older should increase.

Some heart medications actually BLOCK the production of vitamin K so your blood doesn't clot as easily. Be sure to speak with your doctor about healthy amounts of vitamin K intake if you're on these types of medications.

(During the 1920s and '30s, the era when Popeye was created, "spinach" was a very common code word for what? *Answer below.)
SPINACH SERVING IDEAS

Add spinach to any saute. Simply add chopped raw spinach to the pan with a little water, and cover until wilted.

Make a Raw Spinach Caesar Salad: Toss spinach with ground pumpkin seeds. Then in a separate bowl combine extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic clove, salt & pepper. Toss.
Note: Raw spinach, while a favorite of many (myself included!), it does tend to have a slight bitter flavor due to acids inherent in the spinach. Cooking for even 1 minute helps to remove these acids resulting in a tastier spinach dish.

Add steamed spinach to your next veggie lasagna.

Spinach is a natural partner with most beans and grains.

Ready to learn more about preparing spinach? Follow this link to learn all about Spinach. You'll also learn how to Clean and Prep your spinach, cooking techniques, a complete list of Spinach's "Vegan Flavor Matches" (the foods, herbs, spices and other ingredients that tend to go perfectly with spinach), Helpful Hints, and more nutritional information. Includes photos.

Happy cooking!

(Answer: Marijuana. Anti-marijuana propaganda of the time claimed that marijuana use induced super-strength.)
About the author:

Sassy is a Vegan Chef and Nutritional Consultant.

Her website VeganCoach.com was created to marry these two loves, along with over a decade of vegan experience, by teaching her fellow vegans the secret to balanced vegan nutrition and easy vegan cooking without recipes.

Pop on in for a visit. Cool

Copyright © 2008 by Patty "Sassy" Knutson
All rights reserved.
No part of this article may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Thank you.