When it comes to healthy foods, spinach is undoubtedly one of the healthiest, but care should be taken that heating it releases some harmful substances, remind German scientists.
Spinach belongs to the group of leafy vegetables that contain a relatively high percentage of nitrates, which are absorbed from the soil through the roots.
"When spinach is left standing, and especially if it is surrounded by thermally processed food, the amount of nitrates increases, and in cooked spinach they even turn into nitrites during the boiling process. They are dangerous because they combine with amines in the body and create highly carcinogenic compounds that we call nitrosoamines ", explained nutritionist and scientist Dagmar von Kram, reports Hina.
"If you just briefly reheat the spinach right before consumption, you don't have to worry," said von Kram, warning that this does not apply to very small children, where in extreme cases the consequences can be suffocation.
"Leftovers of cooked spinach should not be stored at room temperature. They should be stored in the refrigerator immediately. Just reheat them briefly before consumption," she said. "It's actually best to only prepare as much spinach as can be eaten in one meal."
Spinach can be eaten raw, as a salad. It is rich in vitamins A, C and beta-carotene and folic acid.
This vegetable has long been considered the best source of the mineral iron, which is incorrect because it is not there in large quantities. In addition, this type of iron, which we also call non-heme iron (as opposed to heme iron found in hemoglobin), is a form that is poorly and slowly absorbed in the intestines. Therefore, we should not expect much benefit in the treatment of anemia.
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