One cup of cooked fresh spinach contains about one milligram more iron than you’ll find in 3 ounces (85 grams) of beef liver, which has long been known for its iron content. And far more than you’d encounter in a head of lettuce. In fact, you’d need to eat the entire head of lettuce to gain just 2.02 milligrams of iron, a fraction of what you’ll find in spinach [source: USDA].
Well, spinach does contain a lot of iron, but it’s in a form with much lower bioavailability. It also contains quite a lot of calcium and polyphenols, which influence the absorption negatively. And in addition, there’s the problem of oxalic acid, which, it seems, doesn’t influence iron intake from spinach as was thought in the past, but it shouldn’t be eaten in large amounts due to potential kidney problems. It seems kale might be a better and safer source.
The point is that there’s enough iron in it that you don’t have to eat a lot of it to get more iron. And if you can get around the absorption issues by having citric acid with it. In other words just squeeze a little lemon into it. Kale has around half the amount of iron that spinach does and is a really high source of fiber so there are other complications that can come from eating too much kale.
This is blatantly false.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/spinach-good-source-of-iron.htm
Well, spinach does contain a lot of iron, but it’s in a form with much lower bioavailability. It also contains quite a lot of calcium and polyphenols, which influence the absorption negatively. And in addition, there’s the problem of oxalic acid, which, it seems, doesn’t influence iron intake from spinach as was thought in the past, but it shouldn’t be eaten in large amounts due to potential kidney problems. It seems kale might be a better and safer source.
The point is that there’s enough iron in it that you don’t have to eat a lot of it to get more iron. And if you can get around the absorption issues by having citric acid with it. In other words just squeeze a little lemon into it. Kale has around half the amount of iron that spinach does and is a really high source of fiber so there are other complications that can come from eating too much kale.