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Great legs: Another Reason
to Eat Spinach

by Naomi Mannino

Do you remember watching Popeye turn into a muscle-bound superman when he ate a can of spinach? It turns out Popeye’s creator was a little off the mark. Relying on a typo in a nutritional study, he (along with quite a few other Americans) believed spinach was an incredible source of strength-giving iron. While it is a good source of iron for a vegetable, recent studies have shown spinach may be more valuable for its varicose vein-fighting vitamin K.

It’s a Vein Thing

Occuring in 30 percent of women, varicose veins are blood vessels that enlarge and rise above the surface of the skin. According to a study published in the Journal of Vascular Research, the protein responsible for the maintenance of strong vessel walls is activated only when the right levels of vitamin K are present in your body. Just one cup of spinach contains about 380 micrograms of vitamin K—enough to activate the protein that keeps veins strong.

The vitamin K in your body depletes rapidly without regular dietary intake. It can be found in dark leafy vegetables, like spinach, and it is also produced naturally by your intestinal bacteria. In addition to activating vein-strengthening proteins, vitamin K is also responsible for normal blood clotting, which can also help your legs look good by limiting the bruising that happens in day to day bumps and accidents.

For women, the USDA recommends only 64 mcg of vitamin K each day. However, the authors of Staying Healthy with Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine suggest an optimal intake of around 300 mcg. Recent studies at Oregon State University concur, recommending that everyone eat at least 1 cup of dark leafy greens daily. Replacing saturated fats, like butter and cheese, with monounsaturated fats, like those found in olive oil, will also increase you daily intake of vitamin K.

Getting Your K

Here are a few easy ways help those legs by incorporating more spinach and leafy vegetables into your diet:

Create the perfect raw salad: Use any combination (but at least 1 cup!) of spinach, kale, broccoli, watercress, turnip greens, mustard greens or dark lettuces like romaine. Try to avoid innutritious butter head lettuces, cabbage, and iceberg lettuce. Creating dressings with olive oil can also help you get your K.
Add some herbs: Fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley and basil can add vitamin K to almost any dish.
Sauté the classic Italian way: Gently cook spinach, brussel sprouts or broccoli in olive oil, a sprinkling of pine nuts and lots of fresh garlic. You can also chop spinach and cook it into tomato sauce.
Drink your tea: Alfalfa tea and green tea both contain vitamin K.

Why Not Pop a Vitamin K Pill?

Our bodies are accustomed to extracting nutrients by breaking down whole foods, and we can’t process many of the chemical nutrients used in supplements. Perhaps Joanne Larsen of the Ask the Dietitian website put it best when she said: “Supplement pills are seen by your body as waste and out it goes…down the toilet!” High-quality vitamin K supplements are available by prescription, but eating spinach or broccoli is a much easier way to go.

More Reasons to Eat Your Spinach

While spinach can’t rightfully take credit for Popeye’s huge forearms, it can help you with a lot more than your legs:

Spinach contains other anti-inflammatory nutrients, like folate, for the production and maintenance of new cells.
Spinach is great source of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous.
Spinach is high in antioxidants that subdue cancer-causing free radicals.
Spinach is high in phyto-sterols, which are natural plant compounds responsible for blocking cholesterol absorption and reducing blood cholesterol levels.
Spinach is a great source of dietary fiber.

Try to work more spinach into your diet. Your body will thank you for it.