You must be familiar and already know about this plant. Yes, spinach. Spinach is one of the vegetables which is very popular among Indonesian people and the world because of its benefits. There is one type of spinach that is very popular other than the local spinach that comes from Indonesia, it is Japanese spinach. Sure, same with its name, the Japanese spinach is one type of spinach that originally comes from the Sakura Country, Japan.
The Japanese spinach originally has a shape that almost similar with the local spinach in general, the difference only comes from the shape of its leaves that is bigger. The Japanese spinach is also called as Horenso from the Japanese language but usually called as komatsuna. It has many benefits and it is easy to find it in the market that usually sell organic vegetables and fruits.
What’s Good on Komatsuna?
- Multivitamin Complex, which consists of various types of vitamins, such as :
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B6
- Folic Acid
- Vitamin E
- Rich in fiber
- Rich in iron
- Rich in minerals and also other nutrients that are very important to maintain our body health.
As mentioned earlier, there are many health benefits of komatsuna for our body. Here are some benefits from the Japanese spinach :
- As A Raw Material for Cooking Such As Soup and Stew
The first benefit from the Japanese spinach is that it can be used as the raw material for making food. Sure, as the other type of spinach, the Japanese spinach has a very good taste, and also very suitable for you to make food, such as just making soup or stew. You can also fry this Japanese spinach to make tempura, which is one of many Japanese traditional food that taste umami, tasty, and also crunchy. You do not have to bother for getting the plant, because it is widely available at supermarkets in your city.
- Anti Aging and Slow Down The Process
For our own health, the Japanese spinach has very good benefits, especially in terms of aging. Yes, the plant has benefits that can help prevent premature aging, and also slow the aging process. This is because the Japanese plant has benefits of its vitamin K, which after some researched, the vitamin K proved that it can help prevent the premature aging and slow the process. Obviously consuming this plant will make you look young every day. you may also read about Health Benefits of Water Spinach
- Protect The Eyes from Ultraviolet Radiation
The next benefits from Japanese spinach-related with eyes health. As we know, the eyes are one of the organs that has the most important role, because it helps to see the world. Imagine if the eyes are easy to be damaged. Recently, it is known that the Japanse spinach has a content named lutein. The lutein content of the komatsuna has benefits that are very good as the eyes protection from UV radiation or ultraviolet ray. If the eyes are too exposed by the UV ray, it will cause the various types of health disorders, it even caused blindness. Knowing that lutein is very important especially for us who lived in tropical climates with very high sun exposure.
- Prevent Cancer
Cancer is one of the diseases that is very frightened by many people because it can cause some other diseases severely and even cause death. There have been many ways that people do to protect their body from being attacked by this virus, one of the ways is by consuming the komatsuna. The Japanese spinach or komatsuna has high antioxidant content which can help the body to prevent the entry of free radicals the caused of cancer. By consuming the vegetable, you will avoid the possibility of cancer. you may also read about Health Benefits of Red Spinach
- Keep the Heart Healthy
Japanese spinach has a fairly high folic acid content that has a really good benefit to help you keep your heart healthy. The heart health surely is important to keep because it is the same as you keep the health of all your body. The reduction of the heart function will cause various disease in your body. So you have to be diligent in consuming food that has high folic acid like the komatsuna.
- Help Strengthen the Bones
All kinds of spinach include the Japanese spinach has a very good benefit to help strengthen your bones and keep your bones healthy. It also related to the prevention of osteoporosis that is likely to happen to the elders. By consuming the plant regularly, you can get a very good bones health and avoid the possibility of getting osteoporosis. Having stronger bones will also help you with your activity better. (Read also: Benefits of Bear Brand Sterilized Milk)
- Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease
As mentioned earlier, consuming komatsuna will keep your heart healthy. And that means your heart condition is more healthy, can work optimally, and avoid the possibility and risk of getting heartache. Of course, this is very useful for you because heart disease or heartache is one of the best killers and often leads to sudden death. By consuming the komatsuna that has high folic acid will help you to keep the overall health of your body.
- Prevent the Occurrence of Diabetes
Magnesium is another content that found in Japanese spinach. Magnesium in Japanese spinach and also other spinach plants have excellent benefits to help you in preventing the occurrence of diabetes disease. Yes, a diabetes is also one type of disease that feared by the world community, because it can give a very bad health impact, even cause severe disease complications and also can lead to the emergence of death due to these complications. Therefore, the consumption of Japanese spinach has excellent benefits to help prevent the occurrence of health problems associated with diabetes. (Read also : Benefits of Eggplant for Diabetes)
- Accelerate Blood Circulation and Prevent Anemia
The next benefit of Japanese spinach is able to help smoothen the blood circulation and also prevent the occurrence of anemia. This is because Japanese spinach is one type of vegetables that have a high iron content. This high iron content makes the blood circulation in our body becomes more smooth, which will cause the performance of the heart becomes lighter and also optimal.
In addition, the health benefits of komatsuna by its iron is that it contained excellent benefits to help increase blood, thus preventing the occurrence of anemia. Anemia itself can cause the emergence of various kinds of health problems, such as the body becomes weak, easy to feel tired, often feel dizzy, and also difficult to concentrate and focus.
- Helps Smoothen the Process of Digestion
Spinach, including Japanese spinach, is one kind of green vegetables that are very rich in fiber content. The content of fiber that exists in spinach and also Japanese spinach has a very good benefit to help digestion in the body. With the smooth digestion of the body, it will cause you to be easier in defecation. It will help you avoiding various digestive disorders, ranging from difficult bowel movements to diarrhea and dysentery. Therefore, in order for your digestion to be smooth, be diligent to consume spinach or spinach Japan regularly.
- Rich in Fiber for Body Health
Fiber is one of the high natural content found in Japanese spinach. Besides able to help smoothen the digestion process, the fiber content of Japanese spinach also has excellent benefits to help our body in absorbing nutrients that enter the body. If the nutrients that enter the body is not quickly absorbed and utilized, then this will resulting toxins that are harmful to the health of the body. The benefits of Japanese spinach are also very important, especially since Japanese spinach has a fairly high fiber content. (Read also : Benefits of Bok Choy)
- Has High Vitamins and Minerals
Besides from fiber and also some other contents which has many benefits for the health of the body, the komatsuna and also some other types of spinach also have a lot of mineral content and also important substances that are needed by our body in a day. What are the important ingredients of this Japanese spinach?
The followings are some of the important ingredients found in Japanese spinach and health benefits of komatsuna.