[masraum]

cooked spinach is better for you.

http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/vegetables/spinach.htm

Although much lauded as a nutritional vegetable, spinach has a drawback in that, while containing high levels of iron and calcium, the rate of absorption is almost nil. The oxalic acid binds calcium into an insoluble salt (calcium oxalate), which cannot be absorbed by the body. The same applies to the iron, as it is bound, leaving only 2-5% of the seemingly plentiful supply actually available for absorption. The idea that spinach contained exceptional levels of iron originated in 1870 with Dr. E. von Wolf whose figures remained unchallenged until 1937, when it was discovered that the content was 1/10th the claim. The oversight resulted from a misplaced decimal point.

Extraordinarily high in vitamin C and rich in riboflavin, one cup of cooked spinach also contains a very high level of vitamin A, folate, magnesium, potassium, as well as vitamins E, B6, and thiamin. Like other leafy greens, spinach has a high water content meaning, that when it is cooked, it shrinks considerably. One pound of leaves can be reduced to about one cup of the cooked product. Since the iron in spinach is in soluble form, the water left from cooking will contain that element, as well as other water-soluble nutrients that should be used instead of thrown away. Despite its unusable iron and calcium content, it is still rich in other important minerals, proteins, and vitamins; and, of all the vegetable juices, spinach juice is said to be the most potent for the prevention of cancer cell formation. Research has shown that those who eat spinach daily are less likely to develop lung cancer. For those less inclined to value the spinach water, it is said to make good matchpaper. During the 18th and 19th centuries, spinach water was used as touchpaper for fireworks since paper soaked in it would smolder well.