Trying to figure out the best vegetables to add to your bodybuilding diet can be tricky and may even lead to you wondering whether spinach is good for muscle growth.
Fortunately, we've compiled everything you need to know about spinach and its nutritional content related to building muscle right here to help you decide whether it's right for your particular diet.
Of course, protein comes into play here as it's an essential part of the building, maintaining, and growing of muscle; however, there are plenty of great foods for protein that have that side covered.
While spinach does contain some protein, it's definitely not the main reason why spinach might be so beneficial for muscle growth. It's actually some of the macronutrients we're interested in that have been linked to various potential performance and training benefits.
So, without further delay, here's everything you need to know about spinach and whether it's good for muscle growth...
To understand why spinach may be such a great addition to your diet, it's important to learn a little bit more about its nutritional value.
On the surface, however, spinach doesn't appear to be a stereotypical food for muscle growth. According to Nutritionix, 100g of spinach contains:
Don't get us wrong, spinach does contain more protein than most other vegetables; however, it's still relatively low in calories and that extra 3g of protein is unlikely to make a serious impact on your muscle growth.
So why eat spinach? Well, its benefit lie away from its macronutrients and more toward its micronutrient content as it is rich in vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, iron, potassium, and even nitrates. That being said, let's take a closer look at why spinach is good for muscle growth...
As mentioned, there's more to spinach than just its macronutrients, but you have to dig a little deeper to work out why spinach might be beneficial for muscle growth. Here are some of the reasons why we believe it's worth considering...
One of the main reasons why spinach is often considered good for muscle growth is that it contains a naturally-occurring steroid, or phytosteroid, known as ecdysterone.
One double-blind study by the Freie Universitt Berlin found, over a 10-week period, participants who took spinach extract and, in doing so, ecdysterone showed a significantly higher increase in maximum muscle strength compared to the placebo group.
The findings were so significant that the researchers have called for the World Anti-Doping Agency to add ecdysterone to its list of banned substances due to its positive effect on athletic performance.
However, don't get ahead of yourself with spinach just yet. The study also points out that you would need to consume anywhere between 250g and 4kg of spinach per day in order to consume the same amount of ecdysterone as one of the low-dose athletes in the study.
This is a significant and likely unachievable amount to consume per day, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider adding a least some spinach to your muscle-building diet.
Another reason why spinach is often regarded as good for muscle growth is that it contains nitrates which your body converts into nitric oxide to play a vital role in regulating vascular tone, health, and overall blood flow.
This increase in blood flow might be significant when it comes to adding muscle mass. According to Natalie Rizzo, M.S., R.D., nitric oxide may improve blood flow to your muscles whilst training and, as a result, could reduce the time it takes to fatigue.
A systematic review by Hoon et al. supports this as the analysis found nitrate supplementation was linked to moderate improvements in constant load time during exhaustion exercises.
Therefore, increasing your intake of nitrates might just help you train longer and harder which, in turn, should lead to an increase in muscle growth, hence why some of the best nitric oxide supplements are marketed as key to improving athletic performance.
The list of potentially beneficial nutrients doesn't just stop at nitrates and ecdysterone. No, spinach is packed with a ton of handy vitamins and minerals which may be beneficial for muscle growth.
Specifically speaking, spinach is high in iron, potassium, and vitamins A, C, K, and folate. Interestingly, these nutrients are not too dissimilar to beef liver which, in our opinion, is one of the best foods for powerlifting around.
Several of these nutrients play an important role in strengthening bones. For instance, vitamin K is linked to the calcification of bones which should help them become stronger and, therefore, better prepared to withstand any progress made in the gym using heavier weights as you move towards building more muscle.
Iron and folate may also contribute to muscle growth. For example, you're likely to fatigue quicker whilst exercising without enough iron in your body according to the Harvard School of Public Health. So, upping your iron intake through spinach may help you push for that extra set or two in the gym to further your muscle growth.
In terms of folate, some research suggests a lack of folate negatively impacts strength. One study of note by Lee et al. found a significant association between a lack of folate and a decrease in handgrip strength, thus suggesting to us that consuming more folate may help increase your strength and, in turn, muscle growth over time.
There's not really an agreed-upon limit on how much spinach you should be consuming for muscle growth. However, because the highest RDA value per 100g is below a quarter of your recommended amount, you should safely be able to consume around 400g of spinach providing you couple it with a balanced diet.
That said, eating spinach alone can only take your muscle growth so far as you'll need to consume more protein than spinach can safely provide. You'll also need to optimise your training, sleep, and stress to maximise your performance and progress in the gym.
For example, one study by Brotherton et al. found sleep deprivation significantly decreased one rep max. performance during bench press, leg press, and reduced grip. Therefore, this demonstrates that while your diet, and even just spinach, may play a part in muscular development, they're just small pieces of a much larger puzzle that contributes to building muscle.
Make sure you check out some of our lists on the best chest, shoulder, and back exercises for mass to help you make progress toward your muscle growth goals whilst training.
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Is spinach good for muscle growth? Here's everything you need to know - RealSport101
