If you eat a lot of spinach, you'll get 'this'?... How to eat it properly

Spinach is the first vegetable that comes to mind when thinking of vegetables that strengthen our bodies.

It became famous as the vegetable Popeye likes and is recognized by us as a healthy food ingredient.

However, I have also heard stories that eating spinach incorrectly can cause stones to form in the body.

Is spinach, which seemed to have only advantages, actually a dangerous food?

Based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, we examine the misconceptions and truths about spinach.

 

 

Spinach is famous as a vegetable rich in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and protein.

It is rich in Vitamin A, which helps with eye health, skeletal growth, and anticancer effects, and

It is also rich in folic acid, one of the B vitamins. 100g of spinach contains about 3.35g of protein,

This figure is about twice as high as that of napa cabbage and water parsley, which are commonly eaten during a similar season.

 

 

Do oxalates in spinach cause kidney stones?… That level would only be possible if you ate about 1kg.

 

Even spinach, with all its advantages, has one unfair misconception.

It is a misconception that eating spinach blocks calcium absorption in the body and causes kidney stones to form.

These stones are formed by an increase in the oxalate content in urine, and the most common type of kidney stone is calcium oxalate.

100g of spinach contains 970mg of oxalate.

Oxalic acid is a substance that reacts with calcium ions to cause urinary stones.

The claim is that it is dangerous because this component is also found in spinach.

However, this phenomenon is possible only when consuming about 1 kg of raw spinach every day.

You don't need to worry too much about the 30 to 40g of spinach that the average person consumes per meal.

 

However, if you are still worried about developing kidney stones, there is a solution.

You can eat spinach after lightly blanching it in boiling water.

This is because the oxalic acid component in spinach is water-soluble. According to the Agri-Food Information Portal,

Even blanching spinach briefly in water reduces its oxalic acid content by as much as 51.2%.

 

 

Another method is to consume calcium-rich foods together.

If you consume calcium-rich foods together, such as anchovies, tofu, dairy products, and sesame seeds

It becomes insoluble oxalic acid and is not absorbed in the intestines, so it can prevent the formation of stones.

 

 

 

To enjoy spinach… store it at a low temperature and blanch it with salt.

 

It is important to store spinach at a low temperature.

Because respiration and transpiration are active inside the storage area, they wilt easily.

It is necessary to maintain humidity by wrapping it in water-sprinkled newspaper and then wrapping it in a clear plastic bag or plastic wrap.

Also, considering the upward-growing nature of spinach, storing it upright in the refrigerator allows you to enjoy its fresh taste for a longer time.

 

 

The key to blanching spinach is to add a little salt to boiling water and blanch it for a short time.

This way, the destruction of beneficial nutrients can be reduced.

If boiled or cooked for a long time, the green color of spinach changes and beta-carotene, folic acid,

It is best to blanch it slightly before eating, as vitamins and other nutrients may be destroyed.

 

 

Washing spinach multiple times or squeezing out too much water after blanching can reduce its sweetness.

Wash thoroughly before blanching,

After blanching, drain the water naturally using a sieve to preserve the flavor and aroma, making it even more delicious.

 

 

Story by Reporter Jung Hee-eun (eun@kormedi.com)