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I yam what I yam…

Posted in: The Blog by admin on January 26, 2012

In the old Popeye the Sailor cartoons, Popeye ate a can of spinach and immediately had superhuman strength. Our parents told us to eat our spinach so that we could be strong like Popeye. I tell this to my daughter and she just stares at me with a confused look (she has no clue who Popeye is…). It’s true that spinach contains iron, and our bodies need iron because it builds red blood cells. But spinach does not contain as much iron as you might think. The body doesn’t even absorb all the iron that is contained in one serving of spinach.

Other foods like enriched breads, lean meats, whole-grain cereals and liver are just as beneficial in providing iron for your body. In fact, to get all of the iron that our body needs from spinach alone, we would have to eat our weight in spinach every day…yummy.

So, how did spinach get this ‘strong’ reputation? In 1870, a food percentage chart was published that compared the health benefits of different foods. The decimal point for spinach, however, was in the wrong place…uh-oh. The result of this mistake was that spinach seemed to have ten times more iron than other vegetables. The error stuck in people’s minds, and spinach became thought of as the vegetable for strength.

It’s amazing that people will believe that a vegetable can make them strong, and yet doubt whether God can. God, in fact, is the only one who can make us truly strong. The Bible says: 

“Your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.” – Ephesians 6:10

So, the next time you’re feeling weak, fuel yourself by opening the Bible instead of a can of spinach.