Post about "Nutrition"

Nutritional Contents of Spinach

Spinach is not only loaded with vitamins and minerals; it is rather stacked with them in great amounts. The delicate leafy vegetable is truly a powerhouse of nutrition. However, among all the vitamins and minerals of the nutritional contents of spinach, there are 4 worthy of a mention: Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin B9 (Folate) and Vitamin C.

Vitamin K nutrition from spinach: Spinach is very rich source of this vitamin. Vitamin K is not as popular as the others; but it’s just as important. Vitamin K helps in our brain and nervous system functions. It is an anti-inflammatory agent. It helps in our blood clotting, a property essential in healing open wounds and very helpful for women undergoing a heavy menstrual period. Vitamin K also helps promote bone health. It is also a cancer-fighting agent being anti-oxidant in nature.

Aside from spinach, other vegetables with Vitamin K content include broccoli, kale, green pepper and green onions.

Vitamin A nutrition from spinach: I suppose you and I are more familiar with vitamin A. This vitamin promotes eye health, first of all. Spinach has carotenoid elements that may be converted as Vitamin A in the body. It’s one of the many reasons why the nutritional contents of spinach is overflowing number and in scale. Vitamin A promotes skin health, as well. More so, like that of the calcium, Vitamin A helps protect our bones and our teeth.

Aside from spinach, other vegetables that with Vitamin A content include broccoli, carrots, Bok choy, kale, and sweet potato.

Vitamin B9 (Folate) nutrition from spinach: Folate is one of the nutritional contents of spinach that we should take note of. Perhaps it is more popular as the vitamin that helps in the first developmental stage of a growing fetus. Apart from a baby’s brain and nervous system development, folate also helps prevent cardiovascular diseases like stroke, heart attacks and diabetes. Also, folate helps us get in a better mood when we are tensed, stressed or depressed.

Aside from spinach, other vegetables with folate content include lentils, kidney beans, asparagus, broccoli.

Vitamin C nutrition from spinach: Lastly, but certainly not the least of the nutritional contents of spinach is Vitamin C. We are all so familiar with the benefits of Vitamin C to our body. It helps strengthen our immune system, being an antioxidant in character. It is a detox agent. It also helps in maintaining a healthy blood pressure; and it helps promote bone health, as well.

Aside from spinach, other vegetables that with folate content include broccoli, bell pepper, cauliflower, kale, asparagus.

Nutritional contents of spinach and weight loss

The nutritional contents of spinach are all very important for our over-all well-being. Having them in our diets would be beneficial to our health. And speaking of diets, the nutritional contents of spinach also include proper weight maintenance. It is also fitting for a weight loss diet. Spinach has zero fat, zero cholesterol and with only 40 calories of a heaping cup. No wonder Popeye is always at his best shape when he eats spinach!

How to enjoy the nutritional contents of spinach

Spinach is a relative of the beets, quinoa and the chard. This green leafy vegetable has a distinct, mild taste. Spinach has a soft texture which can be eaten raw together with other greens for a cold salad; or cooked with other vegetables. Some people prefer a simple blanched spinach dish with a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. Some like to bake them; others make a dip out of them. Whichever way you like it, it’s always good to add this spinach in your daily meals.

Nutritional contents of spinach and oxalates.

While the nutritional contents of spinach are aplenty; our consumption of iron and calcium decreases by 50% when we eat spinach because of its oxalate contents. Oxalates are chemicals found in some plants, nuts and seeds which bind minerals like iron and calcium.

The best way to eat spinach is to “kill” or eradicate the oxalates by cooking them. For the purpose of reducing oxalic acids in spinach, put as much water as you can when you boil or cook them. However, you can still eat them raw, if you prefer to do so. In this case, make sure to mix them with other vegetables to increase your non-heme iron consumption.

Is it Important to Take Nutrition Supplements?

Various plans and programs to help improve individual health are everywhere you look these days. Whether in 30-second television commercials, half-hour long infomercials, internet advertisements, or any of a bevy of self-help diet and fitness books, the nutrition, vitamins, and wellness craze is in full swing. It is almost as though society is awakening from a several decades long binge of poor work and eating habits and is only now being reminded of the importance that fitness and sound nutrition have in our everyday lives. Despite that awakening, however, many people still find themselves consumed by their daily efforts to earn a living and manage their many responsibilities, which causes them to place nutrition at the bottom of their list of priorities. For those people, and indeed for all of us, nutrition vitamins are an important consideration.Supplements for your fast-paced lifeNutrition vitamins and other supplements are more important now than ever before – and not just for athletes. The fact is that far too many of us have allowed our hectic schedules to keep us from eating balanced and nutritional meals, resulting in more people suffering from a greater variety of nutritional deficiencies than at any other time in modern history. With nutrition vitamins and supplements, even those people with the least time to spare for healthy eating are able to acquire the nutrition they need to maintain higher levels of health.Supplements to achieve secondary health benefitsIn addition to correcting diet-based nutritional deficiencies, nutrition vitamins are also useful in a number of secondary ways that have tremendous impact upon overall health and wellness. For example, the use of nutrition vitamins can assist the body in removing toxins that build up over time and negatively impact digestion, metabolism, and other bodily systems. There are also nutrition vitamins that can assist in boosting the immune system – which enables the body to improve its own healing capacity and ensures greater health for the long-term.What’s wrong with the food?Of course, many people assume that they don’t require nutrition vitamins – especially if they believe themselves to already be receiving everything they need through their diet. But be honest with yourself: how closely do you adhere to the recommendations of the food pyramid? Chances are that you, like millions of other Americans, have gaping holes in your diet. Few of us eat as many servings of grain, fruit, and vegetables as we should, and without them we have no way short of nutrition vitamins to meet all of our vitamin and mineral requirements.The bottom line is, of course, that you should make every effort to eat correctly and balance out the various food groups within your diet. Even if you do so, however, you should still consider the addition of nutrition vitamins to your daily routine for their obvious health benefits and to plug any potential gaps in your body’s nutritional structure. Even if you choose only to take a daily multivitamin, your body will appreciate the benefits that you provide by using nutrition vitamins for your health and well being.