So, I have been completely overloading on spinach, and have never in the past even liked it. I have been blending it into my green smoothies - about 12 oz each smoothie. I am in love with the taste, and I know that I am probably craving it because it is high in iron.

However, a friend of mine just told me that it has nitrates in it because it grabs the nitrates from the soil. So, should I not eat it? Just cut back? And does anyone know anything else about it?

Thanks - veggie

Spinach isn't the only thing your eating, right?
And you're buying organic?

All leafy greens and many vegetables have nitrates in them, leafy greens more so. Organic leafy greens are said to have less nitrates than "conventionally" grown leafy greens.

Normally if you're over 3 months old = have an adequate amount of stomach acid to deal with nitrates it shouldn't be a problem unless you're also getting even more of them from your water

which is an issue if you live in an area with agricultural run off.

Seriously, I've been in restaurants in areas where there's a lot of farming and there were signs posted on the doors of the restaurants from the public health department warning parents of infants and pregnant or breast feeding mothers not to drink the water because of agricultural run off.

Spinach contains oxalic acid which can interfere with the absorbtion of calcium I believe. There are bound to be more informed people who will let us know.

What I am about to say may sound naive but maybe thats a good thing ? I don't concern myself with the science that tries to look at all the minutia of foods. I look at foods as whole foods made by God and I put my trust in that and not examining all the smallest details. If whole foods are bad for a person then how come so many raw whole food eaters are healthy and well ? I have heard that eating apple seeds will kill you because of minutia details but I eat them everyday and I feel fine. I eat spinach everyday and I still feel fine. Scientists used to think the earth was flat, figure it out.

EZ rider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What I am about to say may sound naive but maybe
> thats a good thing ? I don't concern myself with
> the science that tries to look at all the minutia
> of foods. I look at foods as whole foods made by
> God and I put my trust in that and not examining
> all the smallest details. If whole foods are bad
> for a person then how come so many raw whole food
> eaters are healthy and well ?

Well, like I said, if you have an adequate amount of stomach acid its not much of a problem, and curiously Victoria Boutenko suggests eating leafy green smoothies will encourage the cells in one's stomach that produces acid to heal and start producing acid if they aren't already.

The danger with infants getting lots of nitrates is that their stomachs aren't developed enough yet to produce enough acid. Western Science estimates 3 months old is old enough for the development but we all develop at our own speed.

Who's going to feed green leafies to an infant? They'd get it from their mother's milk and if mommy doesn't have enough stomach acid to deal with it, well ...

Awesome! I have definitely been buying organic spinach, and live in a non-agricultural area. So, I am at ease! Great, because I wasn't planning to give it up, for some other reason I am REALLY needing it.

Another question - anyone eat red chard raw? I used to often in Hawaii, but am not so crazy about it now. What about in a green smoothie? Any experiences with it?

Thanks for all of the advice!

if you dont like eating it... then why eat it. i mean unless you need to eat the stuff... for some reason.

Nitrates in my veggies are about the last thing I worry about. Whatever bad thing might be in the green will also have a lot of good things beside it that you just can't get from other sources.

Anyways, nowadays they are saying nitrates from veggies are good for you.

Chard is nutritionally very similar to spinach--they are close relatives.

Thanks arugula - that's what I was thinking about the chard. AND, I actually did say that to my friend - wondering if there was anything positive about the nitrates in the veggies as opposed to the ones in processed lunch meats, etc. EW!