Recommended Vegetable Intake
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends you consume 2 to 3 cups of vegetables each day, including at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups of green vegetables, such as spinach, each week. One way to do this is to fill at least half of your plate with vegetables at each meal.
Cooked versus Raw
- You'll get more nutrients per cup of spinach if you eat cooked spinach instead of raw spinach, as it takes about 6 cups of raw spinach to make 1 cup of cooked spinach. Some water-soluble and heat-sensitive vitamins are lost during the cooking process, but you'll still come out ahead because it is easier to eat a cup of cooked spinach than 6 cups of raw spinach. If you're making a salad, use raw spinach instead of lettuce to increase your nutrient intake.
Nutrition Facts
- Each cup of raw spinach contains only 7 calories and provides 181 percent of the daily value for vitamin K, 56 percent of the DV for vitamin A, 15 percent of the DV for folate, 14 percent of the DV for vitamin C and 13 percent of the DV for manganese. A cup of cooked spinach has 41 calories; more than 100 percent of the DV for vitamins A and K; more than 20 percent of the DV for folate, vitamin C, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium; and more than 10 percent of the DV for fiber, vitamin E, thiamine, copper and phosphorus.
Potential Health Benefits
- People who eat spinach or carrots at least twice a week are less likely to develop breast cancer than those who don't eat these vegetables, according to a study published in "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention" in November 1987. While these foods are high in vitamin A, intake of vitamin A wasn't associated with a decreased cancer risk, so other components of these vegetables are most likely responsible for the beneficial effects. Spinach is also high in lutein and zeaxanthin, which may lower your risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition that can cause blurred vision and blindness, according to the All About Vision website.
Potential Considerations
- The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics notes that frozen spinach can be more nutritious than raw spinach if your spinach isn't fresh, because it is flash frozen right after picking. Raw spinach loses nutrients during travel and storage. Wash your spinach to limit the risk of contamination from bacteria that could cause food-borne illnesses. Spinach also contains a substances called oxalic acid, which may bind with some of the magnesium and calcium, causing you to absorb less of these nutrients.
