Spinach leaves that are bright green and fresh looking have greater concentrations of vitamin C than spinach leaves that are pale. Before you bite into those nutritious leaves, however, be sure to choose organic or thoroughly wash conventionally grown spinach. Although spinach is high on the contaminated food list, it is a vegetable you don’t want to avoid. In addition to being an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K, riboflavin and folate, as well as the minerals iron, magnesium, and manganese, spinach has also demonstrated some possible protection against the occurrence of aggressive prostate cancer. In a Toronto study, for example, the researchers noted that they “found some evidence that risk of aggressive prostate cancer decreased with increasing spinach consumption, but the findings were not consistently statistically significant when restricted to extraprostatic disease.”
References
Jian L et al. Do dietary lycopene and other carotenoids protect against prostate cancer? Int J Cancer 2005 Mar 1; 113(6): 1010-4
Kirsh VA et al. Prospective study of fruit and vegetable intake and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2007 Aug 1; 99(15): 1200-9
