Benefits of Red Spinach that You Need to Know

Red spinach or commonly called Chinese spinach is one of the plants of high economic value. Although red spinach has the same taste as green spinach, the content of its color makes the benefits of red spinach as an antioxidant superior. Just like spinach in general, this Latin plant named Amaranthus dubius is considered to have a myriad of benefits. Although called red spinach, this type of spinach has purplish red leaves and stems. This red spinach can grow in hot climates that are exposed to much sunlight, including in Indonesia.

Benefits of Red Spinach

Green and red spinach have good nutrition for the body. Nutrients contained in these vegetables include complex carbohydrates, fiber, water, and vitamins A, B, C, K, folate, and minerals such as potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium. In addition, red spinach contains anthocyanins which give a purplish red color to these vegetables. This substance has antioxidant properties. Aside from being a source of nutrition, here are some potential benefits of red spinach that you need to know about, namely:

• Maintaining the health of blood vessels

A study using red spinach extract containing nitric oxide was conducted to test the effect of these vegetables on the body's performance after exercise, blood vessel health, and smooth blood flow. This research shows that red spinach extract can stimulate the formation of natural nitric oxide in the body. This effect is seen to improve the flexibility of blood vessels, help improve blood flow, maintain heart health, and help lower blood pressure even in small amounts. It's just that this research is still limited to small-scale studies. To ensure the effect of red spinach for the health of blood vessels and its potential as a drug, further scientific studies are still needed.

• Has anticancer properties

Another benefit of red spinach is to fight cancer. Based on research in the laboratory, it was found that red spinach extract which has high antioxidants can inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Unfortunately this finding needs to be studied further because it is still limited to research results in the laboratory, and has not been clinically tested in humans.

• Helps control cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

In addition to maintaining a healthy heart and blood vessels and fighting cancer, red spinach is also thought to help control cholesterol and blood sugar levels. A study of mice showed that red spinach can reduce blood sugar, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels. However, the benefits of red spinach on this one have not been tested in humans, so it still cannot be used as a treatment.

Although studies on the benefits of red spinach are still not many, but this vegetable is already commonly used as food, including in Indonesia. Therefore, there is no harm in including red spinach as a healthy food choice for your daily consumption.