菠菜为什么叫菠菜?很简单，因为它是波斯来的菜。为什么有草字头?因为当年中国称波斯为“西域菠薐国”。

菠菜最早产于古波斯。据《唐会要》记载，唐贞观二十一年(公元七世纪)，菠菜作为献礼，由尼泊尔国王那拉提波派使臣送给唐皇，由此正式传入中国。现在，中国已经成为了菠菜的最大产地。全世界有将近92%的菠菜产于中国，大量出口日本，美国等地。提到菠菜，相信很多人都会想起大力水手。为什么作者会选择菠菜作为能量补充剂?

目前有两种说法。其一，是因为菠菜有营养。

这还是源于一个错误，1870年，德国化学家埃里希·冯·沃尔夫在研究绿叶菜铁含量的时候，不小心点错了小数点，将菠菜的铁含量3.5毫克写成了35毫克，这个高到惊人的信息，给了大力水手作者西格创作灵感。

其二，是因为水手需要。当年航海远行船队缺少新鲜水果蔬菜，水手常因为缺乏维生素患上败血症。1768年，库克船长远航时带了大量罐装菠菜，航行无一人死于败血症，后来吃菠菜，就成了水手的传统。大力水手的漫画确实带动了菠菜销售，年销量直增33%，在一定程度上也帮助缓解了当时的经济大萧条。不管怎么说，菠菜确实是一种非常优秀的蔬菜，

有如下这些好处

Spinach is packed full of antioxidants which helps fight oxidative stress.

菠菜富含抗氧化剂，有助于对抗氧化应激(一种导致衰老和基本的负面作用)

Health benefits also include helping eye health, cancer prevention, and reduce levels in blood pressure.

菠菜的健康益处还包括提升眼部健康，预防癌症，降低血压。

Thylakoid of the spinach cells are what give spinach its green color. These have been found to help satiate appetites, which can help in weight loss.

人们发现菠菜细胞中的类囊体，也就是让菠菜呈现绿色的物质有助于满足食欲，可以帮助减肥。

And there's only 23 calories in 100 grams of spinach! Raw spinach is 91% water, which is just 5% less than cucumbers.

而且每100克菠菜，只含有23卡路里的热量。生菠菜中含有91%的水分，比黄瓜仅低5%

There are 15 vitamins and minerals that are crucial for health.

菠菜中含有15种维生素和矿物质，对健康至关重要。

Some of these vitamins and minerals are also beneficial to your skin, bringing relief from dry, itchy skin with its healing properties.

这些维生素和矿物质中的一部分也对人体皮肤有好处，其治疗特性可以缓解皮肤的干燥瘙痒。

There are 3.57mg of iron in 100 grams of spinach. Due to the high amount of iron in spinach, it's highly beneficial to your hair. Hair loss is a result of iron deficiency, so spinach will help combat that problem!

100克菠菜中铁含量达3.57毫克。高含量的铁使得菠菜对发质非常有好处。脱发是铁元素缺乏的结果，因此菠菜可以对抗这一问题。

There is more potassium in spinach than there is in bananas. Potassium helps with digestion and muscular functions.

菠菜中的钾含量比香蕉中含量还要高。有助于增进消化和肌肉功能。

The magnesium in spinach can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes by about 14% if you eat just over a cup of spinach every day.

只要每天吃超过1杯(30克)菠菜，其中的镁就可以将患2型糖尿病的风险降低14%。

The levels of Vitamin C and collagen in spinach are perfect for nail health to keep them growing strong ad avoiding those annoying hangnails

菠菜中维生素C和胶原蛋白对指甲健康好处完美，可以保持其健康生长，避免令人烦恼的倒刺。

当然，事无完美，

菠菜也有自己的一些缺点，

不过好在人们可以通过一些方法去避免：

Spinach contains high amounts of vitamin K1, which can cause blood clotting, and can therefore interfere with any medication that causes blood-thinning.

菠菜中含有大量的维生素K1，可能造成血液凝结，因此可能会干扰血液稀释药物的作用。

But during WW1, spinach juice was used to reinforce wine, and given to hemorrhaging French soldiers to thicken their blood and improve their situation.

但在一战期间，人们将菠菜汁增强的酒给大出血的法国士兵，来帮助他们黏稠血液，改善状况。

Oxalates found in spinach can cause kidney stones in those who are sensitive or intolerant of oxalates.

菠菜中含有草酸，对于草酸过敏或不耐受的人，可能造成肾结石。

Besides, oxalate also prevents your body from absorbing iron.

此外，草酸也会妨碍身体吸收铁元素。

However, boiling spinach will get rid of most of the oxalic acid, and minimize its negative effect.

然而，煮菠菜可以去掉绝大部分草酸，最大化减少其副作用。

所以，根据菠菜的特点，

营养学家认为菠菜这样吃最好：

Unlike most veggies, cooking spinach intensifies the health benefits. Half a cup of cooked spinach will grant you with threefold the nutrition as one cup of raw spinach.

和大多数蔬菜不同，做熟菠菜可以强化其健康作用。半杯菠菜可以提供比一杯生菠菜高出三倍的营养。

Liquefying fresh spinach is the best way to consume spinach — doing this releases beta-carotene stored in the leaves which enables your body to absorb the nutrients even easier than boiling it.

菠菜榨汁是最好的食用方法。这样做，可以释放其叶子中的β-胡萝卜素，和煮菠菜比，能让你的身体更容易吸收营养素。

There is a fairly small window in which you can eat your fresh spinach. After the 8th day of it being picked, spinach loses half of its major nutrients when it's refrigerated.

新鲜菠菜的食用期比较短。采摘冷藏8天后，菠菜会损失一半的主要营养。

责编：周杨

来源：新东方双语新闻