Health Benefits of Spinach

Spinach is perhaps the most amazing green vegetable. It's jam packed with vitamins and minerals and is a powerful weapon to protect your eyesight, your bones and prevent you from having cancer. Medical science is still discovering new benefits of eating spinach.


Like other dark greens, spinach is an excellent source of beta-carotene, a powerful disease-fighting antioxidant that's been shown, among other things, to reduce the risk of developing cataracts. It fights heart disease and cancer as well.

As a dark, leafy green, spinach possesses several important phytochemicals, including lutein, which helps prevent age-related macular degeneration. Spinach also contains lipoic acid, which helps antioxidant vitamins C and E regenerate. Because of its role in energy production, lipoic acid is being investigated for regulating blood sugar levels.

Served raw, spinach is a good source of vitamin C, another powerful antioxidant. Overcook it, however, and you lose most of this important vitamin. Though spinach is rich in calcium, most of it is unavailable, because oxalic acid in spinach binds with calcium, preventing its absorption. The abundant potassium in spinach is available, and it will promote heart health. When you cook spinach, it cooks down tremendously. Because cooking concentrates nutrients and fiber, a serving of cooked spinach gives you even more bang for your buck than a serving of raw.

Nutritional Facts of Spinach:

Nutrients Amount per Cup (180g) (%Daily Value)
Vitamin K 1110.6%
Vitamin A 377.3%
Manganese 84%
Folate 65.7%
Magnesium 39.1%
Iron 35.7%
Vitamin C 29.4%
Vitamin B2 24.7%
Calcium 24.4%
Potassium 23.9%
Vitamin B6 22%
Tryptophan 21.8%
Vitamin E 18.7%
Fiber 17.2%
Copper 15.5%
Vitamin B1 11.3%
Protein 10.7%
Phosphorus 10%
Zinc 9.1%
Choline 8.3%
Omega-3 fatty acids 7%
Vitamin B3 4.4%
Selenium 3.8%
Calories 2% (41 calories)

WHFoods Recommendations:
Among the World's Healthiest vegetables, spinach comes out at the top of our ranking list for nutrient richness. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids to provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. Enjoy baby spinach in your favorite salads or make a salad made exclusively of baby spinach. Spinach is one of only three vegetables that we recommend boiling to help reduce its concentration of oxalic acid. We recommend boiling for just 1 minute to minimize loss of nutrients and flavor.