Health Benefits of Spinach for Endurance Athletes

Spinach Can Help Your Endurance Performance

As endurance athletes, we’re always looking for natural ergogenic aids to our performance, which are readily available at a supermarket and are reasonably priced. When spinach is in season, you can pick up a good-sized bag for around a pound, although it is a year-round crop, so it should often be in the fresh produce aisle. If you’re not so lucky to call at the wrong time of day, you can often find it tinned too.

Its taste can be a little bitter for some with its metallic elements, but if you’re not happy eating it on its own, you can add chopped spinach into soups, omelets, and stews to reduce its harshness and enhance your meals.

Spinach Nutrition (100 Grams or 3.5 Ounces)

Spinach Is a Member of the Chenopodiaceae Family

Spinach is part of the chenopodiaceae family, which is also known as goosefoot. The goosefoot family also includes beets, chards and quinoa. Typically, there are three types of spinach available: savoy, semi-savoy and the smooth leaf variety.

While it won’t quite have the effect on your performance as it did for Popeye, the nutritional benefits of spinach are significant. A selection of the health benefits of spinach for endurance athletes are detailed below.

1. Spinach Is High in Iron

As endurance athletes, we know our blood is exceptionally important to us. It's responsible for the carriage of oxygen to our working muscles. Oxygen is transported in our bloodstream from the lungs to our working muscles for energy production through a reaction with haemoglobin within our red blood cells. The key to this action is the iron (haem) element of our red blood cells.

Whilst iron is important to an athlete if suffering from iron deficiency anemia, they can notice a marked decrease in endurance performance in terms of their work capacity and a reduced VO2max, although with sensible supplementation, this can be reversed. The problem with iron is that it is actually toxic to the body in high amounts, and therefore, the athlete tendency to overdose in an attempt to enhance levels for a subsequent ergogenic edge will likely be of danger to the body and can lead to the deadly condition hemochromatosis where the body has absorbed too much iron.

2. Spinach Enhances Nitric Oxide Levels in the Body

Spinach is a nitric-oxide-dense super food. Nitric oxide helps to increase blood flow and subsequent oxygenation of our skeletal muscles, which are responsible for the contracts during exercise. Enhanced blood flood to these working muscles should mean that our body will be able to work aerobically for longer before the onset of lactic acid and subsequently improve endurance.

Many athletes will supplement their diet with products to enhance nitric oxide levels, but spinach, kale and beetroot are great sources of this endurance-boosting molecule as shown by a study by Cermak, Gibal and van Loon (2012), which showed that a 6 day period of Nitric Oxide supplementation using beetroot juice led to enhanced 10 km cycling time-trial performances.

3. Spinach Enhances Muscle Mitochondria Efficiency

A 2011 study by Larsen et. al. also found that when consuming inorganic nitrates such as those found in spinach, exercises will consume less oxygen whilst performing endurance exercise. The study established this positive effect was as a result of increased efficiency of the mitochondria within our cells. Whilst the researchers did not signify that you should be eating a plate of spinach every day to enhance performance, the study did highlight the potential health and endurance benefits of leafy green vegetables like spinach as part of a balanced diet.

4. Spinach Is High in Glycoglycerolipids

You may never have heard of glycoglycerolipids, which are the main fat-related molecules found within the membranes of light-sensitive organs in most plants. Glycoglycerolipids are key in the process for photosynthesis within plants, and research has shown that their high presence in foods like spinach can help protect the lining of the digestive tract from damage. Shiota et. al. (2010) found that the subsequent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects from the glycoglycerolipids in spinach may be useful for prevention mucosal injury and other inflammatory diseases.

It can also be inferred that the anti-inflammatory effects can have a positive effect on the gastro-intestinal tract of athletes for whom increased stress is placed due to an enhanced calorific need when compared to the general population.

5. Spinach Is High in Vitamin K for Enhanced Bone Health

As athletes and individuals, our bones are important to us as the levers around which our muscles power our performance. Spinach is fantastic for bone health, containing 888.48 mcg per 180 g cup (or 493.60 mcg/100 g) of vitamin K. Only kale can top this value per 100 g.

Vitamin K1 is vital to our bone health as it helps to prevent the excessive activation of osteoclasts, which have a catabolic effect on bone cells. In addition, bacteria in our intestinal tract help to convert vitamin K1 into vitamin K2, to activate osteocalcin. Osteocalcin helps the body by developing levels of calcium deposits inside the bone for additional strength.

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Vitamin/Mineral Values per 100 Grams of Spinach

6. Spinach Can Limit the Long-Term Damage of Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stresses can be caused through excesses of partially reduced molecular oxygen from chemical reactions. Sadly, that oxidative stress from exercise is considered a major contributor to the impairment both endothelial function and the development of atherosclerotic lesions. (Steinberg et. al., 1989).

It has also been shown that acute bouts of exercise can increase the markers of LDL oxidation and subsequently high volumes of energy expenditure may advance the progression of atherogenesis through increases in free radical production, oxidative stress and LDL oxidation.

Spinach has been shown to have properties associated with decreased risk of several blood vessel-related problems, including atherosclerosis and high blood pressure through its high content of antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), and manganese. Spinach is also a good source of the anti-oxidants zinc and selenium.

7. Spinach Can Help You Train More Consistently Through Better Immunity

Spinach is also high in vitamin A, with a single cup providing up to 337% of the RDA of vitamin A. Vitamin A has a role in strengthening and protecting the entry parts of body for food and oxygen. Vitamin A can have a positive immunity effect on our mucous membranes, respiratory, urinary and intestinal tracts, as well as being a key component of our lymphocytes (white blood cells responsible for fighting infection).

8. Hours Out in the Cold, Wind and Rain Can Affect Your Skin

Any endurance athlete, whether they're a cyclist, runner or cross-country skier has to enjoy being outside; however, the weather can have a detrimental effect on our skin, from the premature aging effects of excessive sunlight to the roughness of cold winter conditions to our face.

Spinach contains high levels of vitamin B, which can provide some protection from the sun's harmful rays. It's not a natural sunblock, but we all need as much natural assistance as possible and should still consider wearing sun protection year-round.

The content of vitamin A and folate can also help lead to a clearer complexion through alleviating the appearance of acne and dark circles under the eyes.

Being rich in vitamin K and folate, spinach gives you a clear complexion by minimizing acne, bruising on the skin and dark circles. The bounty of vitamin and minerals in this vegetable give you quick relief from dry, itchy skin, thus providing you with a more radiant complexion.

References

• Naomi M. Cermak, Martin J. Gibala, and Luc J.C. van Loon, “Nitrate Supplementation’s Improvement of 10-km Time-Trial Performance in Trained Cyclists,” International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 22 (2012):64-71
• Filip J. Larsen, Tomas A. Schiffer, Sara Borniquel, Kent Sahlin, Björn Ekblom, Jon O. Lundberg, Eddie Weitzberg. Dietary Inorganic Nitrate Improves Mitochondrial Efficiency in Humans. Cell Metabolism, 2011; 13 (2): 149-159
• James L. Weinstein, MS, RD. Training Peaks: Iron and the endurance athlete. http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/iron-and-the-endurance-athlete
• Shiota A1, Hada T, Baba T, Sato M, Yamanaka-Okumura H, Yamamoto H, Taketani Y, Takeda E., Protective effects of glycoglycerolipids extracted from spinach on 5-fluorouracil induced intestinal mucosal injury. J Med Invest. 2010 Aug;57(3-4):314-20.
• Steinberg D, Parthasarathy S, Carew THE, Khoo JC, Witztum JL. Beyond cholesterol. Modifications of low-density lipoprotein that increase its atherogenicity. N Engl J Med 1989; 320:915-924.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.

Comments

Liam Hallam (author) from Nottingham UK on February 03, 2015:

Good luck with your chemo tirelesstraveler. a healthy diet with help give your body some strength and allow it to do its job. Spinach is exceptionally nutrient rich so i'd think it will help your body as part of a balanced diet but its always best to check diet requirements from your medical team.

All the best. Liam

Judy Specht from California on February 02, 2015:

Mushrooms and spinach have been foods I have craved the last few days. I am sure spinach and other green leafy veggies are helping my body to stay healthy during chemo.

Liam Hallam (author) from Nottingham UK on January 14, 2015:

Thanks AliciaC, Definitely something to add to everyone's diet (not just athletic types) I've really focuseed on the sporting benefits here but for the general population it has some amazing benefits. Thanks for commenting. Liam

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on January 13, 2015:

Thanks for sharing this information. I knew that spinach was nutritious, but I learned some new things from your hub. It sounds like spinach should be a part of everyone's diet!