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Can one be spinach-intolerant?
Topic Started: May 16 2010, 07:01 AM (207 Views)
dolmansaxlil
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When we're working in Sarnia, we always buy our lunch at a nearby fruit market that has delicious salads. My favourite was a spinach strawberry salad with a poppy seed dressing. In the afternoons, my stomach always hurt. Eventually, I switched to a mixed green salad, thinking it was the dressing that was bothering me.

Last night for dinner I had a spinach salad with shrimp, using a dressing I eat regularly. My stomach was hurting the same way it does when I'm teaching in Sarnia and eat the spinach salad.

Is it possible I have issues with spinach, or all things? I eat a lot of greens and a lot of fibre-rich foods, so I don't think that's the issue. Could it be something to have to do with the high iron content? I've noticed the same symptoms when I eat too much red meat (which I don't eat a lot of, so I assumed it was just meat overload).

I have anemia pretty much all the time, and iron supplements just kill my stomach. My iron level is always right on the edge of what the blood donor people find acceptable. At one point when I went to give blood, it was so low they wanted to drive me to the hospital right away, and were amazed that I was able to get out of bed, let alone work.

Is all this stuff connected? Is it possible that the spinach thing is related to my body's short supply of iron, too?
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blondie
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Double post.
Edited by blondie, May 16 2010, 08:16 AM.
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blondie
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I'm not thinking an iron connection Dol. Perhaps you have sensitivity to a component of the vegetable? One thing that sets spinach apart from other green leafy vegetables is its high content of oxalic acid. I wonder if you'd have the same symptoms if you ate a large amount of rhubarb or a huge amount of parlsey. Rhubarb, and to a lesser extent, parsley, also contain oxalic acid. My thoughts. I hope you find an answer to your query.
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sue
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blondie beat me to it. I was wondering if you had the same reaction to rhubarb, hence the oxalic acid.

I feel for you; I love spinach salad (have had that strawberry/poppy seed thing many times,yum), and would be quite sad if it became something I couldn't tolerate.
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dolmansaxlil
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No problems with rhubarb - though I find cooked spinach (even if it's just steamed for a very short amount of time) is ok, and since usually rhubarb is cooked...
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sue
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just read this
Quote:
 
raw spinach contains a substance which blocks the absorption of many minerals, including iodine, a mineral critical to the proper functioning of the thyroid. It also contains oxalic acid, a substance that interferes with the absorption of calcium, but which is destroyed in cooking. Raw spinach should therefore be avoided by those with thyroid issues, or those at high risk for osteoporosis, and should only be enjoyed on occasion by the rest of us (one spinach salad per week shouldn't be an issue).

I knew about the calcium thing, but wasn't aware of the iodine connection. Doesn't sound like a digestion thing, though.
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