liar liar pants on fire
Oh the betrayal! All those years of being told by Popeye that eating spinach gives you lots of iron and it turns out that’s a lie due to a misplaced decimal. *rolls eyes* The things that get passed through to the general population and then become “nutritional fact” and passed down to the next generations, oy!
I have never actually watched Popeye so maybe he didn’t tell kids to eat spinach cause there is iron in it but he did promote spinach as something to eat lots of – after all, that’s what everyone knows him for. Of course, I linked him with those fake cigarette candies you can (could?) buy that tasted kinda nasty but made you feel cool cause it looked like you had a smoke…hey! at the age of 6 you don’t realize you look stupid instead of cool and neither do your friends when they are all doing the same thing. lol. 😛
Anyways, more of my food research has discovered that spinach isn’t a good source of iron. Spinach has about the same iron content as any other green veggie. Something naughty about spinach is that it contains oxalic acid which prevents more than 90% of the iron from being absorbed by the body!!! Ack! Spinach does have a good side tho so don’t think all that spinach eating has been in vain! lol. Spinach is a rich source of Vit A, Vit E and several antioxidants, it also has more than a half-day supply of beta-carotene in just a half cup serving. So see, it has ups and downs…like a lot of foods. 😛 In case you are wondering, the idea that spinach contained lots of iron started in 1870 with scientists whose figures weren’t challenged until 1937 when it was discovered spinach actually contained 1/10th of the claimed amount…like I said earlier, the mistake was made by a misplaced decimal point. lol.
Something else you should know about iron, when you do eat it also eat something high in Vit C (like peppers or citrus fruits) because the Vit C increases iron absorption. Most people don’t need to use supplements to get enough iron, we do fine on our own if we eat a healthy veggie rich diet but an iron supplement is recommended for pregnant women, women who are child bearing age should eat foods high in heme iron (found in lean meats). Men need to be careful, too much iron for them can be dangerous – it has been linked to heart disease and cancer. Oh and my last fun fact about iron, men store more of it then women do in their bodies. Phew, ok, that was a lot of iron stuff, all done!
Today I ate:
2 Weetabix Biscuits = 2 points
1/2 cup 1% milk = 1 point
1 banana = 2 points
1 cup Knorr Red Pepper Tomato soup = 2 points
1/2 cup mashed yams = 1.5 points
mixed veggies = 0 points
2 triangles Light Laughing Cow cheese = 1 point
1 salmon in dill sauce steak = 3 points
1/4 cup whole wheat couscous = 3 points
corn = 0 points
1 Weight Watchers Smart Ones Double Fudge Cake = 4 points
So far I have eaten 19.5 points today, I will eat a snack in a bit and end up being under my points by half a point which I think is ok. 🙂 The couscous turned out well, I actually put the corn in with the couscous to make it less dry…I used to put marg in it and mix it together to make it less dry but combining it with some veggies is a healthier way to make it moist and it tastes good.
The Smart Ones however was a bit disappointing. sigh. It was stale. How that happened when it’s a frozen cake you thaw I dunno but stale it was. I followed all the instructions for thawing it out…maybe it was in my freezer too long? shrug, ah well, it was still chocolate and you can’t go wrong with that. 😀
The Amazing Shrinking Woman 