Top 5 Health Benefits of Spinach!

Spinach: The Original Green.  Before kale took center stage, there was spinach.  Since the 1930s, Popeye has been spinach’s spokesperson, inspiring every cartoon-watching kid to eat its leaves and grow big and strong.  So will spinach give you Popeye-like biceps?  Not quite.  As it turns out, though, spinach is the leading source of folate among vegetables.  Folate, or folic acid when it’s in its oxidized, monoglutamate form, is classified as a B vitamin, a classification of molecules that includes biotin, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.  What does this particular vitamin have to offer?  Here are the top 5 health benefits of this folate-rich vegetable:

1. Supports Brain Development:  Folate is essential to the synthesis of DNA, making it especially necessary for proper cell growth and development.  For this reason, doctors and physicians suggest women consume folate daily before and during early pregnancy, as it could ensure baby’s proper brain, skull, and spine formation by up to 60%.
2. Counters Depression: Although its mechanisms have yet to be discovered, folate has been determined to have a direct effect on one’s mood.  When treating depression, researchers have found patients that supplement with folate are more responsive to antidepressants than those who do not, especially in women.
3. Bolsters Brain Function: Though some studies have had mixed results, a study in Australia showed that daily supplementation of folate along with vitamin B12 improved memory in elderly patients.
4. Supports Heart Development: Folate’s role in proper cell growth and development may also contribute to its direct relationship to heart development.  In a study from 2000, women who took multivitamins containing folate were 24% more likely to have babies with healthy hearts than women who did not take these vitamins.
5. Promotes Cardiovascular Health: High levels of the molecule homocysteine have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease.  As folate and other B vitamins have been shown to be essential for the breakdown of homocysteine, some believe that daily supplementation of folate can help prevent heart disease.  At the very least, one meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials showed that vitamin B supplementation significantly reduced the occurrence of stroke, a potentially fatal episode caused by interrupted blood supply to the brain.

This doesn’t even take into account spinach’s high vitamin K, vitamin A, and iron content!  To get a healthy dose of spinach, try one of juice. Nashville’s cold-pressed, raw juices, like hi five. or love.  Popeye will approve, and your head and heart will love you for it!

-Michael Guido, Juice Ambassador, BA Biological Sciences, University of Chicago

References:

1. Pitkin RM. Folate and neural tube defects.
2. Coppen A, Bailey J. Enhancement of the antidepressant action of fluoxetine by folic acid: a randomised, placebo controlled trial.
3. Walker JG, Batterham PJ, Mackinnon AJ, Jorm AF, Hickie I, Fenech M, et al. Oral folic acid and vitamin B-12 supplementation to prevent cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults with depressive symptoms–the Beyond Ageing Project: a randomized controlled trial.
4. Botto LD, Mulinare J, Erickson JD. Occurrence of congenital heart defects in relation to maternal mulitivitamin use.
5. Huang T, Chen Y, Yang B, Yang J, Wahlqvist ML, Li D. Meta-analysis of B vitamin supplementation on plasma homocysteine, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.