Why do all these health awareness campaigns keep telling you to ‘Eat you greens’?! It does get a little annoying because whether you are searching for a video on weight loss, muscle building, or even just beauty tips, every one of them tell you to eat vegetables… like you did not know that already!
Anyway, I am not just going to tell you to eat your greens – I am going to tell you to drink your greens by juicing spinach (assuming you are a person like me whose taste buds just refuse to accept any leafy vegetables as a desirable snack). In this article, you will get to know how you can get full benefits of a very rich vegetable – spinach – without having to force it in your mouth, and of course, while adding a dash of salty or peppery flavor to the drink to make it more delicious.
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Why is Juicing Spinach a Good Idea?
Many people, especially children, have a very misbalanced diet these days. Ultimately, this is evident through the reporting of numerous health issues arising more often than they were before junk food and unhealthy lifestyles were this commonly adopted.
Spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable that is not only rich in Vitamin A, B, C, K, and E, but also is also a great source of iron. Hence, it is proven to be a natural remedy for those who have iron-deficiency or anemia. The vegetable is also found to be as good of a source of protein as meat! Moreover, there are plenty of amino acids, magnesium, potassium, and other nutrients in spinach that make it a piece of gold among all vegetables. The bad news is that most of these nutrients are lost in the cooking process. Another bad news is that eating raw spinach leaves is not the taste everyone can easily opt for. The good news is that you do not really need to cook it or eat it raw to get all this nutrition – you can simply blend it into a juice which is raw leaves but basically a lot easier to swallow.
While most of us grew watching Popeye eat spinach, not many of us are fans of the vegetable. Despite knowing what benefits spinach can have on our physique, mind, and beauty, we often run away from the thought of plating some spinach leaves for lunch or dinner. This is why juicing spinach leaves is the way to go. It is easy to gulp it down even if you do not like the taste, it is quick to make (as no cooking is required), and it has a better place in your daily diet routine with its ease of portability and preparation with different tastes to your liking. All of these factors aside, the most important reason why spinach juice should be consumed is its increased benefits to you by easy absorption and digestion.
Hence, even if eating spinach turns your appetite off, having a glass of spinach juice with your regular meal would be much easier. Who knows? You might even start liking its taste when you would notice the positive changes in your health and appearance brought on by its use.
Benefits of Juicing Spinach:
There are numerous benefits that accompany the use of spinach juice in any individual, regardless of age or gender.Prevention of Iron-deficiency Conditions: If anemia runs in your family or your medical history, you can enrich your diet with spinach juice to consume it as an iron supplement. Not only anemia, but any other iron-deficiency conditions can also be battled or altogether prevented by regular intake of spinach juice.
Battles Arthritis:
Spinach has the pH and nutrients that can prove to be beneficial for anyone encountering their first signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) which is a disease that affects the bones and joints. You can avoid worsening of this condition by increasing your intake of a healthy diet including spinach juice. Spinach is alkaline in nature and that is said to be a helping factor in restoring the strength and health of the joints.
Balances Your Body Alkaline:
The property of spinach juice being alkaline does more wonders than you can imagine. It caters to a wider array of health and beauty issues than many other vegetables. The pH level of the spinach can help keep your body and blood clear of unhealthy tissues as well as balances the alkaline levels in your blood stream.
Saves Your Dental Health:
With all the junk food and sugars we consume today, it is quite common to face dental health issues, especially bleeding gums. Well, you guessed it – spinach helps prevent and fight against bleeding gums, too! The vitamin C found in spinach is a great remedy to give your mouth a refreshing treat and treatment. Hence, consuming spinach juice is your best bet to smile wide again.
Reduces Your Chances of Developing Atherosclerosis:
Among the many heart diseases that can be minimized in intensity by using a healthy diet, atherosclerosis is one that spinach is most effective at preventing. Atherosclerosis is when fat and cholesterol build up inside the arteries of the heart in form of a plaque which obstructs the blood flow to and from the heart. As scary as it sounds, it is a common yet dangerous heart condition and it can be helped by consuming spinach juice. That is because spinach is rich in antioxidants and folic acid, both of which are good for heart health.
Prevents Increase in Homocysteine levels:
Homocysteine is an element in your blood whose increase in levels can cause heart diseases. Usually, the increase in homocysteine levels is due to a diet rich in meat, but balancing your diet with healthy vegetables like spinach can control your homocysteine levels. Hence proven, spinach is a great medicine for heart-related health issues.
Reduces Risk or Growth of Cancer:
It has been studied and concluded that spinach juice contains all nutrients that are beneficial in the prevention of developing cancer as well as in controlling cancer growth in patients who have been diagnosed with the illness. This is contributed to the properties of chlorophyll and flavonoids, both of which are plant matters. Chlorophyll is known to be a blood detoxifier while flavonoids are beneficial in helping the bodily cells maintain their structure and reduce free radicals. Ultimately, this combination found in spinach makes it an effective anti-cancer remedy. Consuming it in form of juice can not only make it easy to drink, but also make its absorption into the blood stream easier without having the stomach work too hard in breaking the elements down.
Improves Your Vision:
Spinach is rich in Vitamin A and carotenoids. Juicing spinach can get you the benefits of both these nutrients, especially as many carotenoids are converted to Vitamin A, which is extremely beneficial in improving eye health. Vitamin A found in spinach has been linked to improvement in vision-related conditions like night blindness. In fact, a very common health issue, cataracts, is also curable through regular consumption of spinach juice. Cataracts is the fogging up of the lens in your eyes which can make it difficult to see clearly, and usually a surgery is needed to treat this condition. However, spinach can help reduce its symptoms.
Cleanses Your Stomach:
From just a bad constipation to a painful ulcer, spinach juice is found to be very helpful in relieving stomach sicknesses. This benefit of spinach is credited to it being a fiber-rich vegetable. The fiber from spinach juice can expand in your stomach pushing food into your intestines easier as well as cleanse the stomach.
Helps Strengthen Your Bones:
Being a rich source of Vitamin K, spinach juice can help strengthen your bones. Vitamin K helps bond the calcium in bones together to avoid weakening of the bone structure. The same reason helps spinach juice also succeed as a home remedy for treatment of osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become weak and porous making fractures an increased risk. This condition is usually not diagnosed until a later stage which is why it is important to take good care of your bones, and spinach juice is an effective preventative measure for it.
Maintains Blood Pressure:
Blood pressure instability is an increasingly common health issue these days which is a root cause of numerous health problems. Many people with high blood pressure incorporate spinach in their daily diet plans to maintain a healthy level of blood pressure.
Encourages Healthy Fetus Growth:
Pregnant women are often advised healthy diets including leafy vegetables like spinach. Spinach is rich in folic acid – a supplement that many women additionally take during their pregnancy. It is professionally suggested supplement to encourage a healthy pregnancy. Other than folic acid as well, spinach is rich in the nutrients that help in overall development and growth of the fetus. Moreover, spinach also helps in the healthy production of milk for the baby. When a mother has a healthy diet, her breast milk also becomes of a better quality leading to a healthy baby after birth as well.
Strengthens Hair and Stimulates Hair Growth:
Spinach has many beauty benefits too. The Vitamin B complex in spinach is very effective at battling hair-related issues like thinning hair or balding. The Vitamin B complex is often found in hair care products for repairing hair, and instead of spending on expensive products to get this vitamin, juicing spinach for your consumption can directly flourish your hair health.
Beautifies Your Skin:
Given the rich properties of antioxidants, Vitamin C, and many other nutrients present in spinach, it is no surprise that spinach juice can prove to be an extremely beneficial beauty tonic. It cleanses your skin from the inside out, dealing with problems like acne to aging. The Vitamin C present in spinach encourages a glowing, hydrated skin.
Juicing
Spinach For Good Taste:
Well, now that you know the endless benefits of juicing spinach, it is time to make the blend! Making Spinach juice can be as simple or as fancy as you want it to be.
The simple method is to simply put in some fresh spinach leaves in your juicer along with some slices of apple for a better taste, and there, you have it!
The fancy or more flavorful method is to add as many other vegetables or fruits that you like to alter the flavor. You may also drop in some honey to enhance the sweetness in the juice. On the other hand, if you like a salty drink more, then you may add a dash of salt and pepper into the juice and enjoy it chilled.
Having this tasty juice just twice a week can also yield all the benefits of juicing spinach listed above. Enjoy a healthy life!