Creamed spinach differs not only in the composition of normal leaf spinach. The nutritional values also differ enormously.
What is the difference between creamed spinach and spinach?
When someone talks about spinach, they usually mean leaf spinach. In terms of raw material, both are the same. However, creamed spinach has already been processed or chopped up and a dash of cream has been added to it.
The cream gives the spinach a slightly different taste and at the same time gives it a certain creaminess.
What is the nutritional value of creamed spinach?
This question is not that easy to answer as each manufacturer adds different amounts of cream to their products. This increases or decreases the caloric content of the creamed spinach.
Frozen Creamed Spinach contains about the following nutritional values on average per 100 grams:
- Calorific value: 54 kilocalories/226 kilojoules
- Carbohydrates: 3.3 grams
- of which sugar: 1.7 grams
- Protein: 3.5 grams
- Fat: 2.6 grams
- of which saturated fat: 0.7 grams
Furthermore vitamins and minerals are contained in creamed spinach. These can be numbered as follows:
| Nutrients | per 100 g |
|---|---|
| Vitamins | 123.0 mg |
| Vitamin A | 0.5mg |
| Vitamin B1 | <0,1 mg |
| Vitamin B12 | <0,1 mg |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.2mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.2mg |
| Vitamin C | 24.0mg |
| Vitamin D | <0,1 mg |
| Vitamin E | 1.2mg |
| Minerals | |
| Calcium | 123.0 mg |
| Chlorine | 390.0mg |
| Copper | 0.1mg |
| Flour | <0,1 mg |
| Jod | <0,1 mg |
| iron | 2.6mg |
| Magnesium | 50.0mg |
| Manganese | 0.6 mg |
| Phosphorus | 56.0 mg |
| Potassium | 427.0mg |
| Sulphur | 26.0mg |
| Zinc | 0.7mg |
Is creamed spinach he althy?
Of course, it is often said that fresh vegetables are much he althier than frozen ones. The fact is, however, that all vegetables (including spinach) are usually processed immediately after harvesting and then shock-frozen. Accordingly, most frozen vegetables still contain all the vitamins and nutrients of the raw material.
Spinach is often classified as a superfood because it has a very high iron and vitamin C content. It is also rich in potassium and calcium.
In various tests, however, traces of nitrate, nitrite and cadmium were found in deep-frozen creamed spinach. These are not unproblematic for the human body. Nitrate in particular can turn into nitrite in the body and impede the transport of oxygen in the blood. Cadmium, on the other hand, is a heavy metal with toxic properties. Negative: It is found in almost all types of frozen spinach.
Fortunately, there are now institutes that regularly scrutinize a wide range of products available on the market and check them for harmful substances. If you want to be absolutely sure, use these reports to check beforehand which product you are going to choose.
A good alternative, however, is that you grow the spinach yourself, process it and refine it later with cream. Only then is there a certain certainty about its ingredients.