Benefits of Juicing Spinach
Spinach solidified its reputation as a food that bolsters health and strength back in the old Popeye the Sailor cartoons. Popeye would crack a can of spinach and then pump his guns. Since then, the benefits of spinach have been studied and confirmed. Of course, fresh spinach is a better source of vitamins than canned, and while eating spinach is fantastic for the body, if you juice spinach, you can get those benefits in a super concentrated form. Juicing is a quick and simple way to eat more spinach
Benefits of Spinach Juices
The health benefits of spinach juice might not be as instantaneous as in the old cartoons, but increasing your intake of spinach will undoubtedly have a positive effect on your body, especially if you drink a cup of spinach juice daily.
Spinach is Packed With Nutrients
Spinach is rich in vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin C – crucial to the health of the immune system – iron, folic acid, potassium and magnesium, and calcium. It packs high concentrations of carotenoids, and a single spinach leaf contains over half of your needed daily intake of vitamin K1, which is essential for blood clotting. A 1 cup serving of raw spinach provides your daily requirement of vitamin K, crucial for strong, resilient bones.
Folate is a vitamin B complex that helps form red blood cells and DNA. Spinach juice containing three cups of raw spinach will get you almost halfway to your daily goal for folate intake.
Spinach is High in Antioxidants
Free radicals are compounds in the body that attack and damage cells through oxidation. Antioxidants in foods like spinach help the body to fight free radicals, and antioxidants are also linked with anti-inflammation and cancer prevention. Kaempferol is shown to slow the growth and spread of cancer, and quercetin has been tied to memory and cognitive benefits along with heart and blood sugar health – protection against heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, two of the biggest killers in the world. Fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, and leafy greens in particular, have been shown to decrease the memory loss that can come with aging.
Drink Spinach Juice to Help Lower Blood Pressure
The nitrates prevalent in spinach have been shown to open up the blood vessels and ease the burden on the heart. While it is not a substitute for medication, including spinach juice in your diet can have a positive effect on high blood pressure.
Spinach is Essential to Eye Health
One of the antioxidants in spinach, lutein, can prevent macular degeneration, a disease that leads to conditions like night blindness by preserving macular pigmentation, which protect the eyes from UV rays. Regularly consuming spinach can prevent vision loss, and since there’s no cure for the vision loss that comes from age-related macular degeneration, eating a good source of lutein to prevent the condition from occurring in the first place is key.
Spinach Promotes Healthy Skin and Hair
Healthy hair and skin give you a glow and project an aura of well-being; they are the outward signs of health. Spinach juice is beneficial to hair and skin because it’s a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K. They work together to prevent oxidative damage, keeping the skin looking younger, protecting it from sun damage, and fortifying its natural barrier against the elements. Hydration is also important for healthy skin – just another reason to enjoy spinach juice.
Those same vitamins and the fact that it’s high in antioxidants mean spinach juice is also beneficial for the hair; there’s even some evidence that it benefits hair growth as well. Vitamin K, A, C, B2, B6, B1, E, manganese, zinc, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids nourish the scalp and increase blood circulation, which can help with growth as well as strengthening the hair that’s already there. Drinking spinach juice each day can help you cultivate a head of healthy hair.
Spinach is Great with a Weight Loss Program
With all the benefits of spinach and the nutrients it contains, it might surprise you to learn that a three cup serving of spinach leaves contains only 20 calories. It also provides 2 grams of protein. So if you’re watching your weight, you can reap all the health benefits of spinach juice without worrying about exceeding your calorie allowance.
As part of a low fat and low sugar diet, spinach juice can help keep you trim in addition to its other health benefits.
Does spinach make you stronger?
There are a wealth of benefits of spinach juice, but what about muscle growth? Is there any truth to the picture painted by those Popeye cartoons?
Actually, yes.
A Swedish study found that the compound nitrate, found in spinach and other leafy green vegetables, increases muscle tone. In the study published by the Journal of Physiology, mice who were given nitrate had stronger muscles than the control group. The amount of nitrate the mice consumed was equivalent to what a person would get by 200-300 grams of fresh spinach daily. Spinach juice is an easy way to get your daily intake quickly.
Drinking Spinach Juice
Compared to some leafy vegetables, raw spinach is fairly mild in flavor. Spinach is also decently high in water content, so it makes a great base for lots of juice recipes. Many other ingredients complement the taste of spinach, so it’s easy to add additional nutrients to juice. Spinach juice can also be consumed on its own, or with the addition of herbs like basil and cilantro for flavor and added benefits.
Green Juice
Green juice is a juicing staple, good for weight loss, regulating blood sugar, and maintaining a healthy body, hair, and skin. It’s full of nutrients, iron, calcium, potassium, protein, and other vitamins and minerals like magnesium. It has a good antioxidant payload to protect cells from free radicals. This vegetable juice is versatile; you can make substitutions to use what you have on hand or to suit your personal tastes.
- 3-4 cups of fresh spinach
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1 green apple
- 1/2 lime or lemon, peel removed
- 1-2 inch piece of ginger root
To this beneficial drink, you can add a pear for additional sweetness, vegetable variations like pepper, cucumber, chard, arugula, and so on, all with their own vitamin compounds. Herbs can add flavor and nutrition, and anything can be altered to make the spinach juice something you can enjoy and look forward to each day.