Spinach

Studies in people

• No harm found

  Nutrient absorption from food³

  In people, taking calcium with a spinach meal did not change how much carotenoids the body absorbed.

• Benefit

  Fatty liver disease⁴

  People who ate the most raw spinach were less likely to have fatty liver disease, though boiled spinach showed no link.

• Open question

  Heavy metals in vegetables⁵

  Spinach, wheat and cabbage grown here held heavy metals, but levels stayed within safe limits for local adults.

• Benefit

  Feeling full after eating⁶

  In people, eating a bigger portion of spinach with a meal made them feel fuller and blunted the rise in blood sugar.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Memory and learning¹⁴

  In animal studies, spinach and its extracts improved memory and learning in the animals tested.

• Benefit

  Heart and blood vessel health¹⁶

  Spinach and kale contain omega-3 fats, which may help lower the risk of heart and other chronic diseases.

• Benefit

  How much the body absorbs¹⁷

  In lab studies, frozen spinach gave up more polyphenols for the body to absorb than fresh spinach did.

• Benefit

  Baby food nutrition¹⁸

  Adding spinach to sorghum gruels for babies raised the vitamin A and C in the mix.

Study type not stated

• Open question

  Low risk from residues¹²

  Thiamethoxam and clothianidin were found on spinach, but levels suggested low risk to people eating it.

• Open question

  Parasite eggs on vegetables¹³

  Toxocara eggs were found on spinach grown on UK farms, so wash spinach well before eating it.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Cadmium and lead uptake¹⁰

  Spinach can take up cadmium and lead from soil, and scientists are still studying how much of these metals people absorb.

How it’s made and used

• Local produce preference²

  In taste tests, people liked locally grown high tunnel spinach more than store-bought spinach.

• How the body clears it⁷

  After people ate spinach, only a small amount of ecdysterone left the body in urine.

• Calcium absorption from food⁸

  In people, the body absorbed far less calcium from spinach than from milk.

• Urine excretion of a plant compound⁹

  Eating quinoa and spinach left only small amounts of ecdysterone in people's urine, suggesting the body absorbs little of it.

• Bacteria in bagged salad¹¹

  Baby spinach bags held widely varying germ counts, and bottom-of-bag samples often had more bacteria than top samples.

• Pesticide residues on vegetables¹⁵

  Washing spinach with acetic acid or citric acid removed more pesticide residue than tap water alone.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.