'Cause I eats me spinach

By Jeremy Shere

Posted September 11, 2024

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Transcript

Y: Hey Don, what's with all the spinach?

D: It's embarrassing, but when I go to the beach big, muscular guys kick sand in my face. I'm tired of being a ninety-pound weakling. Finally, I'm gonna bulk up and be a real man!

Y: Ok, but what does that have to do with spinach?

D: Geez Yael, haven't you ever heard of Popeye the Sailorman? Whenever he's getting beat up he eats some spinach and becomes really strong. His muscles bulge out and everything.

Y: I hate to burst your bubble, Don, but eating spinach has nothing to do with strength.

D: [CRESTFALLEN] Popeye is a lie?

Y: Not a lie, exactly. See, some time in the 1920s it was reported that a half cup of cooked spinach has thirty-four milligrams of iron, which is a lot. Iron is important because it carries oxygen in the blood. We need oxygen for energy; without enough of it people become weak and tired.

D: So spinach does make you stronger, or at least puts extra pep in your step.

Y: Well, it might, if it really did have that much iron. It turns out that the thirty-four milligrams was a typo. A half cup of cooked spinach really has only three point four milligrams of iron. Plus, spinach is actually worse than other iron-containing vegetables because it has a chemical that blocks most of its iron from being absorbed by the blood. But when the typo was published the idea caught on that spinach was a muscle-building vegetable. That's where the idea for Popeye came from.

D: So now I have to come up with another plan.

Y: How about just being happy with who you are?

D: Or maybe I'll learn karate!

Y: Whatever.

Fresh spinach in a colander in a sink about to be washed

Some time in the 1920s it was reported that a half cup of cooked spinach has thirty-four milligrams of iron. (Isriya Paireepairit / flickr)

If you're looking to bulk up, you can take inspiration from Popeye. Whenever he's getting beat up he eats some spinach and becomes really strong. His muscles bulge out and everything.

I hate to burst your bubble, but eating spinach has nothing to do with strength.

Popeye isn't a lie, exactly. Some time in the 1920s it was reported that a half cup of cooked spinach has thirty-four milligrams of iron, which is a lot. Iron is important because it carries oxygen in the blood. We need oxygen for energy; without enough of it people become weak and tired.

So spinach might at least put extra pep in your step, if it really did have that much iron. It turns out that the thirty-four milligrams was a typo. A half cup of cooked spinach really has only 3.4 milligrams of iron. Plus, spinach is actually worse than other iron-containing vegetables because it has a chemical that blocks most of its iron from being absorbed by the blood. But when the typo was published the idea caught on that spinach was a muscle-building vegetable. That's where the idea for Popeye came from.

So you might have to come up with another plan for your workout routine.

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