Let’s talk spinach. Spinach for your baby. There are so many vegetables out there that are so good for your baby and their development. I found at that spinach is a really good leafy green vegetable that can be added to pretty much any dish and can be given to your baby from 6 months on wards.
Spinach is the kind of leaf that wilt when in contact with water and heat so adding this to a mash or a pasta sauce or a puree for your baby is easy. No mess, no fuss.
Spinach – the benefits
Supplies essential minerals: Spinach contains high amount of calcium and magnesium, both of which are essential for bone development. It contains high amounts of iron and potassium as well. Iron is useful for haemoglobin production and potassium is essential for brain development.
Supply of essential vitamins: Spinach supplies vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, folate, niacin, vitamin E and vitamin K. Each of these vitamins play an important role in improving body functions in infants. For example, vitamin A is essential for developing eye sight, vitamin C is essential for building a strong immune system.
Will help your baby to poo: Spinach being a leafy vegetable, it has significant amounts of dietary fibre in it. This dietary fibre is good for keeping the digestive system clean. It is better to have fibre in diet because fibre absorbs water and adds bulk to stool.
Other benefits also include
Cures urinary disorders as spinach possesses anti microbial properties to fight of infections. Helps ease any gastric discomfort and protects the liver as research has shown the biochemicals found in spinach help protect from infections.
How to cook spinach for your baby
There are many ways to cook spinach. You can give spinach on its own or you can add it to a dish.
When planning to give spinach on its own you can either
- boil – boiling in essence is a waste removal process. So when you boil something you are really allowing the nutrients to be absorbed by the heat and water to allow it to soften.
- steam – steaming requires a pressure cooker of some sort but the process is really simple. Steaming is more ideal as it retains the nutrients in the fruit or vegetable.
When adding to a dish it is a good idea to
- chop up the spinach finely or in medium chunks – depending on what you are making
- add you spinach nearer to the end as spinach wilts and softens really quickly
Types of spinach
The best type for your baby as per my experience is baby spinach because it has a more milder taste compared to the regular spinach as this can be a tad stronger in terms of smell and taste.
When buying baby spinach, they come in really large packs which I find annoying because I do not want to use it all as I do not need to. The other down side is best before/use by dates are like 3 days from purchase which infuriates me because again I can never finish the packet in time.
Spinach receipe’s to try out for your little one
Spinach and tomato scrambled egg
Spinach, carrot and potato mash
Potato, mushroom, carrot, broccoli and spinach croquettes
Happy Spinach eating/feeding 🙂
Yours Always,
The Soul Tamer x
the soul tamer 