Another blast from the past today.
Popeye's Spinach
The other day Ward was reading something and called out, "Hey, listen to this. You know how Popeye eats spinach and gets really strong because of the iron in it? Well that portrayal happened because of a simple mistake." He proceeded to tell me that when the nutritional value for spinach was first published in the 1870's, there was a problem with a decimal point. That ended up with the belief that spinach had 10 times more iron in it than it really had. The mistake wasn't figured out until much later.
I thought that was pretty interesting and I would share it with you here on my blog. And that's where the problems began. I did a little googling and found the same story in many places. In fact, it's such a great story that it has been repeated for decades. But no one seems to have ever seen the original paper where this mistake was made. Mike Sutton published extensive research he did on the story in Best Thinking Science. After a lot of investigation, he could find no evidence that the misplaced decimal ever happened.
What about Popeye? Did the misplaced decimal story mislead him into eating spinach for strength? Well, it turns out that when he first ate it, he touted its Vitamin A properties instead of iron content.
Nevertheless, his love of spinach made it the third favorite food among children at one point and consumption of spinach went up in the 1940's when Popeye was in his heyday.
So how much iron does spinach actually have in it and is it any better than other foods as a source of iron? One cup of raw spinach (30 grams) contains 5% of the RDA for iron (which by the way is the same amount of iron in Peppermint Pattie.) Of course, if you are eating it cooked you are likely to eat more. However, spinach also contains oxalates which bind to the iron and make it hard for the body to absorb. So generally, animal sources of iron are easier for the body to use. However like all leafy greens, spinach good for you for a lot of reasons.
So what conclusion can we draw from all of this? Once again, you can't believe everything you read.
Note: I did reading on this about a week before I wrote it. When I tried to relocate sources for some of the things I had written down, I couldn't find them all again. Therefore, I tried to summarize the topic without too many specifics when I couldn't find the sources. Come to think of it, this might be how some internet rumors get started :)
I thought that was pretty interesting and I would share it with you here on my blog. And that's where the problems began. I did a little googling and found the same story in many places. In fact, it's such a great story that it has been repeated for decades. But no one seems to have ever seen the original paper where this mistake was made. Mike Sutton published extensive research he did on the story in Best Thinking Science. After a lot of investigation, he could find no evidence that the misplaced decimal ever happened.
What about Popeye? Did the misplaced decimal story mislead him into eating spinach for strength? Well, it turns out that when he first ate it, he touted its Vitamin A properties instead of iron content.
Nevertheless, his love of spinach made it the third favorite food among children at one point and consumption of spinach went up in the 1940's when Popeye was in his heyday.
So how much iron does spinach actually have in it and is it any better than other foods as a source of iron? One cup of raw spinach (30 grams) contains 5% of the RDA for iron (which by the way is the same amount of iron in Peppermint Pattie.) Of course, if you are eating it cooked you are likely to eat more. However, spinach also contains oxalates which bind to the iron and make it hard for the body to absorb. So generally, animal sources of iron are easier for the body to use. However like all leafy greens, spinach good for you for a lot of reasons.
So what conclusion can we draw from all of this? Once again, you can't believe everything you read.
Note: I did reading on this about a week before I wrote it. When I tried to relocate sources for some of the things I had written down, I couldn't find them all again. Therefore, I tried to summarize the topic without too many specifics when I couldn't find the sources. Come to think of it, this might be how some internet rumors get started :)
I can eat spinach but it’s not normally in our diet. Mum used to love Popeye...despite that, no spinach :)
ReplyDeletehttps://cassmobfamilyhistory.com/2021/04/22/sponges-scones-soup-and-satays/
We eat spinach fairly often and add it to various dishes to add more nutrition. As a kid, we usually had canned spinach which many people say is too slimy for them. It didn't both me and I loved it.
DeleteI love spinach but I also love Peppermint Patties! I was anemic a few years ago and, along with supplements, spinach, and red meat, my doctor also recommended molasses cookies. I had no idea I could add candy to increase my iron intake. :)
ReplyDeleteMy mom had macular degeneration and her retinal specialist recommended dark, leafy greens to increase eye health (and urged me to add it to my diet) so I have made a conscious effort to do so. It starts to get tricky to eat and prepare it for the best iron absorption--I think my simplified takeaway was, if it's raw, add an acid (like in salad dressing). Cooking spinach makes its iron more available to your body. I have a simple soup that I often make for lunch which is basically sauteed garlic with chicken broth and spinach. My kids think it looks disgusting but I like it.
I have always heard that if you're taking iron supplements make sure you take them with vitamin C. Sounds like the same thing as adding an acid to leafy greens to help with iron absorption.
DeleteI have long touted that eating a Peppermint Patty would give me 4% of my daily iron requirements. I'm eating them for my health not because I love the taste. :)
It is interesting, but all I know is that I loved Popeye when I was a kid :)
ReplyDeleteI liked to watch Popeye, too. When I was in junior high, my nickname was Olive Oyl because I was so skinny.
DeleteYes, for me spinach is always associated with Popeye! I do eat in now and again in the belief it will do me good!
ReplyDeleteEven if spinach doesn't have as much iron as it was perceived to have, there are still plenty of other good things in it that will, no doubt, do you good. You may not be as strong as Popeye after eating it, but better all the same. :)
DeleteWhen I was growing up (here we go again!) spinach was often added to lentil curries (dhal). But, the spinach I knew as a child (called Ceylon Spinach, Malabar Spinach, Indian Spinach - scientific name: Basella alba) is a little different from the spinach I find here. It is a vine with small berries that turn blue-black when ripe. I didn't know about Popeye when I was growing up and didn't know that spinach came in cans! :D
ReplyDeleteSpinach with berries in a very different one than I am familiar with, but I think adding either one to lentil curry would be good. When and if you ever return to the grocery stores, you'll have to find some spinach in a can and see what you think
DeleteI didn't know spinach iron can't even be absorbed that well. I watched a lot of Popeye cartoons growing up.
ReplyDeleteMe, either. Sometimes, I learn a thing or two with this blog.
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