The Healthy Temple

Known in the nutrition world as a “power” food, spinach is packed to the brim with essential nutrients. Unfortunately, it’s also known in the “real” world as a slimy, smelly vegetable that kids refuse to eat, even when you threaten to ground them for not being open-minded about it. Is it worth the effort to try to get your kids, or yourself for that matter, to eat spinach? Absolutely. Eating spinach will help you meet your daily need for a number of nutrients, including calcium, iron, folate and vitamin A. Find out why spinach should become the star of your meals.

Healthy Benefits:Spinach is rich in a number of essential nutrients, including calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin A. Each of these nutrients plays a crucial role in our bodies health, from maintaining bone structure, preventing neural tube defects, assisting in red blood cell production, regulating our heartbeat, fighting free radicals and nourishing good eyesight.

Eating spinach feeds a healthy body. Spinach is also a great source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoid phytonutrients that are important for healthy eyes. Eating about one cup of raw spinach offers roughly one-third of the nutrition as half a cup of cooked spinach (which is actually equal to about three cups raw).
So, while spinach makes a great addition to cold salads and sandwiches, enjoying your spinach hot packs a better nutritional punch.
Nutritional Benefits
- ½ cup cooked Spinach -
Calories 21
Fat 0 g
Carbohydrates 3 g (2 g dietary fiber)
Protei 3 g
Nutrient RDAs 122 mg calcium 12%
131 mcg folate 33%
3 mg iron 30%
78 mg magnesium 22-28%
60 mg phosphorus 8.5%
419 mg potassium 14-21%*
7,371 IU vitamin A 147-184%