Super Spinach!

Calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients than any other food.  Popeye was probaly the best thing that ever hit the spinach industry. Super Spinach!

The Health Benefits of Spinach are far beyond strength ! Spinach is at the top of many super food lists. The health benefits of spinach are numerous and its ability to help prevent disease is well known. Spinach and other dark leafy greens like kale, collards, Swiss chard and turnip greens are loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamin K and iron. Spinach is also rich in vitamin C, fiber and carotenoids. Add its lutein and bioflavanoids and spinach is a nutritional powerhouse.

Eating spinach is beyond amazing for the body. The calcium content in spinach and the other dark leafy greens mentioned above strengthens bones. The A and C vitamins in spinach plus the fiber, folic acid, magnesium and other nutrients help control cancer, especially colon, lung and breast cancers. Folate also lowers the blood levels of something called homocysteine, a protein that damages arteries. So spinach also helps protect against heart disease.

The flavonoids in spinach help protect against age related memory loss. Spinach's secret weapon, lutein, makes it one of the best foods in the world to prevent cataracts, as well as age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the elderly. Foods rich in lutein are also thought to help prevent cancer.

As you can see, the health benefits of spinach are numerous. The vitamins and calcium in spinach, combined with the overall nutritional value of spinach, make this vegetable and its dark leafy green cousins top picks for healthy food choices. Fresh or frozen, add these greens to your food menu as often as you can.

How to Get More Spinach in your Diet? Sneak it in!

1. Add chopped fresh or frozen spinach to lasagne.

2. Add chopped or frozen spinach to your favorite vegetable soup recipe.

3. Sauté spinach with a bit of garlic for a tasty super food combination.

4. Try it on top of a baked potato.

5. Make quick and easy spinach dips to eat with crunchy raw vegetables.

6. Use fresh spinach instead of lettuce to add a twist to your favorite sandwiches.

7. Add chopped fresh or frozen spinach to omelettes.

Make sure frozen spinach is thawed and well drained for any dish.