howcaniloseweight
Spinach
Spinach Nutrition Facts and
Special Health Benefits
When a cartoon sailor makes up a song about how awesome
spinach is, we can all stand up and take notice. Spinach is a
healthy, brightly colored leafy vegetable packed with nutrients.
You may be under the impression that you don’t like spinach, but after learning the health benefits of spinach you’ll toss a few bunches into your environmentally-friendly grocery bags!
About Spinach
Spinach is a low fat food, with just 2% fat per bunch, making it an ideal vegetable to accompany a not-so-lean protein. What’s more interesting about spinach nutrition facts is the amount of fiber found in one bunch. With 30% of your daily value (DV) of fiber, this small amount of spinach will help you burn a tremendous amount of fat.
Combine the high fiber count with 10 grams of protein and you can now see why spinach is considered a fat burning food.
But it’s not just the fat burning property of spinach that provides with so many health benefits. There are many vitamins found in spinach in abundance, including vitamins A, C and K which give you well over 100% of your daily value of each vitamin. Other vitamins available in significant quantities in spinach include folate, vitamins E and B6.
Don’t worry I’ll tell you what it all means soon.
There are also many minerals that highlight the health benefits of spinach, including 34% (DV) calcium, iron (54%), magnesium (67%), potassium (54%) and manganese (152%).
What all these vitamins and minerals should tell you about the health benefits of spinach is that in addition to helping you burn more fat, it also safeguards you against many weight-related illnesses.
Health Benefits of Spinach
Spinach doesn’t just make you big & strong like Popeye, it also improves overall bone health thanks to the large amount of vitamin K. Men and woman alike can benefit from stronger bones to help maintain good health. Thanks to vitamin K, spinach is also a brain food, enhancing nervous system health and improving brain functions.
With more than 600% of your daily value of vitamin A, one bunch of spinach can help you fight infections by protecting at risk entry points like mucous membranes. For those of you concerned, another health benefit of spinach thanks to vitamin A, is healthy and moist skin!
Spinach is packed with antioxidants that reduce blood pressure, as well as nutrients that reduce inflammation to prevent illnesses that include hearth disease, diabetes and stroke.
There are so many health benefits associated with spinach that all you need to know now is how to slowly introduce spinach into your diet.
Low Cal Spinach Recipes
One of the simplest ways to get acquainted with spinach is to replace plain iceberg lettuce in your salad with the greener stuff. It’s the perfect way to take advantage of the health benefits of spinach!
Lemon-Garlic Spinach: Lightly sauté 2 cloves of garlic in ½ tablespoon of unsalted butter for 3 minutes. Stir in 1 bunch of spinach and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over it. Stir until spinach begins to soften, season with salt and pepper. 74 calories per serving, recipe makes 2 servings.
Spinach Scramble: Cook 1 slice of bacon in skillet until done, 6 minutes. In rendered fat, cook ½ bunch of spinach until it softens. Lightly beat 2 egg whites, season with salt & pepper and add to skillet. Scramble until blended with spinach. Chop and sprinkle bacon on top. 119 calories per serving, recipe makes 1 serving.
With a little bit of garlic or lemon for flavor, you can start enjoying the health benefits of spinach immediately!