Can You Get Enough Vitamin A From Eating Spinach?
Everyone knows that spinach is one of the healthiest foods out there. It's packed with many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A. According to Medical News Today, just half a cup of cooked spinach contains 64% of the recommended daily value of vitamin A. This means that one cup of cooked spinach contains over 100% of the recommended daily value of vitamin A. So yes, you can get enough vitamin A from eating spinach. Realistically, though, most people do not eat the same thing every day, so you should find other sources of this vitamin in your diet.
Other foods that are high in vitamin A include beef liver, cod liver oil, and herring. Vegetables high in this vitamin include carrots, broccoli, and sweet red pepper, while fruits include mango, cantaloupes, and dried apricots. Other foods include sweet potato, black-eyed peas, pumpkin, and tomatoes. It is best to eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods in order to get the recommended daily value of all vitamins and minerals.
Other health benefits of spinach
Vitamin A isn't all that spinach has to offer. Spinach contains calcium, potassium, and folate, as well as vitamins C, K, and A. It's also a great source of iron and magnesium (via Medical News Today). This vegetable has also been found to lower the risk of cancer as well as provide glucose control in people who are diabetic, and improve bone health.
This vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked. It has a milder flavor when eaten raw and can easily be blended into a smoothie to help picky eaters get their veggies in. Spinach contains a lot of water and loses much of its volume when cooked, so be prepared to use a large amount when adding it to sauces or stir-fries. It is recommended that adult eats four to five servings of vegetables per day for the most health benefits (via Harvard Health Publishing). Few people actually eat this many vegetables each day, so it is important to try to incorporate them into your diet whenever possible.