Menopause Menu: Spinach
Feb 09, 2022
My “MENOPAUSE MENU” series is dedicated to exploring foods that can be easily assimilated into your diet and that have health benefits specific to menopause and aging.
Popeye has known it all along. Spinach has superpowers!! And now there is also promising research indicating that it can have specific benefits for bone health in mere mortals like us. The loss of estrogen during menopause can have detrimental effects on bone mineral density and overall bone health in women. Did you know that a woman’s risk of hip fracture is equal to her combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer? So let’s keep those bones healthy and strong. There are a lot of small things you can do to make sure your bones get the proper nutrients and care. One such small change can be adding spinach to your diet. Spinach contains Vitamin K, which has been shown to play an important role in bone health and has a positive effect on bone mineral density. In addition to its skeletal health benefits, the phytonutrients in spinach, especially, Lutein, have anti-inflammatory, and eye-benefiting properties. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamin A, and vitamin C, as well as being a good source of magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamin B2.
Spinach packs a nutrient punch cooked or raw but studies have found that cooking spinach makes many of the vitamins and nutrients more bioavailable.
How to cook it: DO NOT boil it. Cooking times should stay under 10 min to avoid the loss of too many nutrients.
Here is one of my favorite protein-packed recipes with spinach –
Spinach Scramble:
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 hand-fulls of fresh spinach
A tiny bit of salt and garlic (garlic has its own superpowers so don’t forget it)
Olive oil
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the spinach to your desired doneness. Add the eggs and scramble. Voila!
