Know2eat

Spinach

Spinacia oleracea

Also known as Baby spinach, Flat-leaf spinach, Savoy spinach

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A fast-growing leafy annual in the amaranth family, eaten raw as young leaves or cooked as mature ones. It wilts to a fraction of its raw volume, which makes cooked and raw portions very different things.

Eye HealthMuscle & Physical PerformanceHeart HealthLiver Health

Potential health benefits

Best supported: Moderate

Ordered by how well the human research supports them — strongest first. A rating describes the state of the evidence, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Macular health

Eye Health
Moderate evidence

Research suggests diets higher in lutein and zeaxanthin from leafy greens are associated with denser macular pigment and lower rates of age-related macular degeneration. Most of the direct trial evidence used supplements rather than spinach, which limits how far it can be read across.

What may be going on: Lutein and zeaxanthin are selectively taken up into the macula, where they absorb short-wavelength light and act as antioxidants in that tissue.

Moderate evidence. Several human studies point the same way, with real caveats.

3 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Exercise performance

Muscle & Physical Performance
Limited evidence

Evidence is limited for spinach as an ergogenic aid. A small number of trials report improved muscle efficiency or performance with nitrate-rich greens, but the dose per portion is much lower than in the beetroot studies the idea comes from.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Healthy blood pressure

Heart Health
Limited evidence

Some trials of nitrate-rich leafy greens report small reductions in blood pressure over hours. Most of the nitrate literature uses beetroot juice, and spinach-specific trials are few and short.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

4 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Liver markers

Liver Health
Insufficient evidence

Green leafy vegetables are heavily promoted as liver-cleansing foods. There is no dependable human research showing that eating spinach changes liver enzymes or liver fat, and the liver does not require dietary assistance to do its job.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Spinach

Ask about Spinach

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories23 kcal1%
Protein2.86 g6%
Total fat0.39 g1%
Carbohydrate3.63 g1%
Fibre2.2 g8%
Total sugars0.42 g—
Water91.4 g—
Fats
Saturated fat0.063 g0%
Monounsaturated fat0.01 g—
Polyunsaturated fat0.165 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)0.026 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A469 µg52%
Vitamin C28.1 mg31%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E2.03 mg14%
Vitamin K483 µg402%
Thiamin (B1)0.078 mg7%
Riboflavin (B2)0.189 mg15%
Niacin (B3)0.724 mg5%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.065 mg1%
Vitamin B60.195 mg11%
Folate194 µg49%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline19.3 mg4%
Minerals
Calcium99 mg8%
Iron2.71 mg15%
Magnesium79 mg19%
Phosphorus49 mg4%
Potassium558 mg12%
Sodium79 mg3%
Zinc0.53 mg5%
Copper0.13 mg14%
Manganese0.897 mg39%
Selenium1 µg2%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene5626 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin12198 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash1.72 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Spinach, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 168462).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • boiledReduces soluble oxalate

    Boiling spinach and discarding the water removes a large share of its soluble oxalate, considerably more than steaming does. This is the single most effective kitchen step for someone managing stone risk.

  • steamedPreserves folate and vitamin C

    Steaming retains substantially more folate and vitamin C than boiling, because those nutrients are water-soluble and leach into cooking water.

  • with fatIncreases lutein and beta-carotene absorption

    Carotenoids need dietary fat to be absorbed. A salad dressed with oil delivers several times more lutein and beta-carotene into circulation than the same leaves eaten undressed.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    Oxalate content and calcium oxalate kidney stones

    Spinach carries more oxalate than almost any other common food, and people who form calcium oxalate stones are routinely advised to limit it. Eating it with a calcium source in the same meal binds some of the oxalate in the gut, which is generally more useful than avoiding calcium.

  • Interaction

    Vitamin K and warfarin

    Spinach is very high in vitamin K, which directly opposes warfarin. The goal is not avoidance but consistency: a sudden increase or decrease in leafy green intake can move INR out of range, so tell whoever manages your anticoagulation before changing habits.

  • Worth knowing

    Nitrate and infants

    Spinach is naturally high in nitrate, and reheated or poorly stored spinach purée has caused methaemoglobinaemia in very young infants. Standard advice is to serve it freshly prepared and not to reheat it for babies under about six months.

  • Worth knowing

    Iron is poorly absorbed

    Spinach reputation as an iron food rests partly on a misplaced decimal in nineteenth-century tables. Iron is present, but the oxalate binds much of it, so absorption is low compared with iron from meat or from legumes eaten with vitamin C.

  • Worth knowing

    Potassium in advanced kidney disease

    Cooked spinach is concentrated enough in potassium to matter in advanced chronic kidney disease or alongside potassium-retaining medication. Boiling and discarding the water lowers it somewhat.