Spinach
by Gudrun Maybaum
Summer 2002
Common name: Spinach
Botanical name: Spinacia oleracea
Family name: Chenopodiaceae
History
Spinach is a native of Asia, most likely originating in Persia. It was introduced into Europe around 1000 A.D.
The intensive and widespread cultivation of spinach in Europe, especially in the Netherlands, France and England, started in the 18th century. Later in that century, it spread to the rest of Europe and the Americas.
Spinach is an excellent source of beta carotene, vitamins C, E and K, calcium, potassium, iron, sodium, sulphur, folic acid and oxalic acid. It contains more protein than most vegetables.
Medicinal Value
Spinach is one of the vegetables with the highest amount of chlorophyll, a fat-soluble substance that stimulates hemoglobin and red blood cell production. Chlorophyll is known to have a chemical formula remarkably similar to that of hemoglobin, and it has been said that the ingestion of chlorophyll will raise the hemoglobin in blood without increasing the formed elements.
In plants, Chlorophyll carries carbon dioxide as food to the cells and oxygen back as waste to be discharged from the system. In animals, hemoglobin carries oxygen as food to the cells and exchanges it for carbon dioxide, which is then discharged as waste from the system. So plants like spinach that are high in chlorophyll support the liver in detoxifying and cleansing the blood. With spinach, the effect is reinforced by its considerable amount of sulfur.
Sulfur is an acid-forming mineral that protects the protoplasm of the cells, disinfects the blood and helps the body resist bacteria.
Folic acid is needed to form red blood cells and support the formation and function of white blood cells.
The exceptionally high antioxidant property of spinach is due to the carotenoids, beta carotene and lutein, which are three to four times higher than in broccoli, for example. These naturally occurring fat-soluble pigments are most effective when eaten with some fat.
Spinach also has plenty of potassium, which supports a healthy nervous system, aids proper muscle contraction, stabilizes blood pressure, regulates the transfer of nutrients through the cell membranes and, together with sodium, controls the water balance of the body.
While spinach is known for its high iron content, recent studies have shown that the iron contained in spinach is not easy for the body to assimilate and only a very low percentage is used.
The relatively high amount of oxalic acid in spinach interferes with the absorption of iron and calcium into the blood. When eaten in large amounts, spinach could damage already impaired kidneys: oxalic acid removes calcium from the blood in the form of calcium oxalate, and calcium oxalate obstructs the kidney tubules.
The fairly high concentrate of nitrogen compounds in spinach can be reduced up to 70% by blanching the vegetable.
Cultivation and Storage
Spinach, like most dark green vegetables, is best stored with a humid covering around it in the refrigerator.
As a plant, spinach adapts to a range of soil types but requires a soil pH of 6.0 - 6.5 and will not grow well if pH is below 6.0. Winter spinach is best when sown in August. Summer spinach can be started in February and needs lots of water.
References:
Prescription for Nutritional Healing by James F. Balch, M.D. & Phyllis A Balch, C.N.C
Super Healing Food by Frances Sheridan Goulart
Healing Foods by Miriam Polunin
Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition by Sheldon Margen, M.D.
http://www.planet-pets.com/spinach.htm
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/spinac80.html
http://privat.schlund.de/g/gemuse/spinat.htm