Popeye the animated sailor man ate spinach for a burst of strength. As our world is going through a lot of stress and we need to be strong in body and mind.

Spinach is that dark green leafy vegetable, believed to have first grown near the Middle East many years ago. This strong vegetable soon spread and interesting tales followed it. Even a queen, in France, once adored spinach so much that she had it with every meal (or so the story goes).

Today’s spinach is basically divided into the savoy/curly leafy variety, the part curly variety and the smoother leafy variety. Spinach has minuscule calorie content but it has some worthy content of amino acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Many house tales abound of linking high intakes of iron and calcium to spinach. Yet spinach also has significant oxalate content, that can actually decrease the absorption of minerals such as iron and calcium. Itn is unlikely that fabulous high doses of minerals can ever be gained from spinach alone. Do we sweep spinach out the kitchen back door?

Absolutely not. Spinach excels in feeding your body vitamin K. If you want strong bones, you need some essential good doses of vitamin K. Many calcium supplements now have added vitamin K.

In folklore medicine spinach has been popular, and science confirms some of those uses. Interestingly spinach can hold acclaim as possessing anti-inflammatory properties.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two antioxidants that medical research has linked to healthy eye care and they prevent accelerated eye deterioration. So do grab some spinach leaves for your eyes as well. Co-enzyme Q 10 is a superb antioxidant that is naturally found in your body and in some foods like spinach. Co-enzyme Q10 promotes muscle strength including the heart muscle. Your body is dependent on Co-enzyme Q10 to produce optimal cellular energy. It is part of the process of ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) production and ATP is the scientific term for your cellular energy currency. No matter how bleak things are, let’s all try stay well and strong. Take care my readers.

By Anastacia Sampson