If you don't like spinach, you may want to revisit this vegetable to find a way that you enjoy eating it in order to partake of its health benefits. If you find cooked spinach is too strong for your tastes, try raw spinach instead. It is more mild in flavor and can be substituted for lettuce in salads or on sandwiches. Nutrition Data, which reports nutritional information on foods for the United States Department of Agriculture, shows that spinach contains several important vitamins that have a major impact on your body's health, as well as disease prevention.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is necessary for proper clotting of the blood. According to Nutrition Data, one cup of raw spinach contains 145 mcg of vitamin K, which is an astounding 181 percent of the daily value (DV), recommended by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). You should be aware, however, that if you are taking any medication for thinning the blood, such as warfarin, the National Institutes of Health warns that eating foods such as spinach, with high Vitamin K content, can affect how well the warfarin works. If you are a fan of spinach but are on medication, you should speak to your physician about how much spinach you can freely consume.
Vitamin A
Spinach has a high Vitamin A content in the form of beta-carotene, with 1 cup of raw spinach containing 2813 IU (International Units) or 56 percent of the DV. Compared to the content of Vitamin K, 56 percent may not seem like much, but it is a substantial amount to get from 1 cup, which can be consumed at one meal. Vitamin A, or beta-carotene, is reported by the Linus Pauling Institute to help protect against heart disease, lung and prostate cancer, degenerative diseases of the eye, such as macular degeneration and it also boosts the immune system. Vitamin A (beta-carotene) is also classified as an antioxidant vitamin. Antioxidants protect the body from damage caused by free radicals, which are described by Columbia University as cells that are essentially malfunctioning and in turn can cause healthy cells to malfunction by trying to steal electrons from cell molecules. Free radical damage is believed to be the underlying cause of early aging as well as many diseases.
Vitamin E and Vitamin C
One cup of raw spinach offers 0.6 mg, or 18 percent of the DV, of Vitamin E, and 8.4 mg, or 14 percent of the DV of Vitamin C. While these two antioxidant vitamins are widely available in other foods, the fact that you are able to consume the two of them together in a serving of spinach has added health benefits. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends that instead of taking antioxidant vitamin supplements, you should consume foods that are rich in these vitamins, as the vitamins need to work together to offer the greatest benefits in health protection.
B Vitamins
Spinach also contains a few members of the B vitamin family, with the most prevalent being folate, at 58.2 mg or 15 percent of the DV in a 1-cup serving. Folate is vital to the formation of tissues and proper functioning of cells, as well as the production of DNA. The National Institutes of Health states that women who are pregnant should make sure they have an adequate intake of this vitamin, as low levels of it in the body are associated with birth defects. Other B vitamins available in one cup of raw spinach are riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), thiamin (vitamin B1) and vitamin B6. These B vitamins are available in trace amounts, of less than three percent of the DV, but all of them work together to promote healthy cell function and energy production in the body.
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