Eating spinach boosts muscles,study finds

RESEARCHERS at the Karolinska
Institutet in Sweden have
discovered that spinach really can boost
muscles.
According to the research, which was
published in the February issue of the
journal Cell Metabolism, eating a bowl of
spinach every day makes the muscles
“ profoundly” more efficient. Researchers
found that eating 300g of spinach reduced
the amount of oxygen needed to power
muscles when exercising by as much as
five per cent.
The ingredients, which make spinach work
so well are the nitrates found abundantly in
spinach. Nitrates make the mitochondria,
the “engine rooms” of cells, more efficient.
“It is like a fuel additive for your muscles - it
makes them run much more smoothly and
efficiently, ” said the lead author Dr. Eddie
Weitzberg of the Karolinska Institutet in
Sweden.
In the study, Wietzberg fed people the pure
nitrate supplements equivalent to the
amount in a plate of spinach every day for
three days. At the beginning and end of the
experiment participants pedaled
strenuously on an exercise bike while their
oxygen intake was measured via a tube to
the mouth. At the end of three days, the
difference in energy intake was found to be
between three and five per cent - which is
considered to be a significant amount.
Originally it was thought that the iron
content of spinach made it a power-food.
Now scientists have found that it is nitrates,
which are the true energy-boosting
ingredient found in spinach and other
green leafy vegetables.
“We know that diets rich in fruits and
vegetables can help prevent cardiovascular
disease and diabetes, but the active
nutrients haven ’t been clear,” said
Weitzberg, who also added: “It is a
profound and significant effect. It just
shows that Popeye was right. ”
Previously Weitzberg and colleague Prof.
Jon Lundberg demonstrated that dietary
nitrate increases levels of nitric oxide in the
body with the help of friendly bacteria.
Nitric oxide helps open up blood vessels,
lowers blood pressure, and improves
circulation. Nitrates appear to help stop the
loss of energy in the mitochondria due to
heat loss, making the cell - and thus the
muscle - more efficient.
The new study shows yet another benefit
of nitrate and the nitric oxides that stem
from them; however, questions do remain.
While the new study results show that
increased dietary nitrate can have a rather
immediate effect, it is not clear what might
happen in people who consume higher
levels of inorganic nitrate over longer
periods of time.
It is likely much healthier to consume
nitrates and other beneficial items by eating
fresh vegetables and plants.