Fruits
Moderate evidenceStrawberry
Eight berries cover your vitamin C for the day. But the randomised trial that tried to lower cholesterol with strawberries failed on its target measure.
Strawberry and spinach salad
The vitamin C in strawberries raises absorption of spinach's non-haem iron. The pairing only works if both stay raw.
2 servings10 min
Ingredients
- Baby spinach100 g
- Strawberries10 (200 g)
- Walnuts30 g
- Olive oil1 tbsp
- Balsamic vinegar1 tbsp
- Salt and pepperto taste
Method
Toast the walnuts in a dry pan for three minutes over low heat, then cool. No oil.
Wash the spinach in cold water and shake it completely dry. Wet leaves shed the dressing.
Wash the strawberries before hulling them. Hull first and water gets into the hole and dilutes the flavour.
Halve the strawberries. Cutting them ahead lets vitamin C oxidise away.
Whisk the olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper into a dressing.
Toss everything together just before eating.
Cooking note
Baby spinach is used here so it does not need blanching. Blanching removes oxalate, but it also takes the vitamin C and folate with it. Eaten raw the oxalate stays, so if you have a history of kidney stones, do not make this often. In exchange, the strawberry's vitamin C raises absorption of spinach's non-haem iron, and the fat in the walnuts and olive oil helps the fat-soluble compounds in spinach get absorbed. Three ingredients each doing something for the others.
Ingredients used here
Vegetables
Moderate evidenceSpinach
"Spinach equals iron" is only half true. The real value sits in folate, vitamin K, and the lutein that accumulates in your eyes.
Nuts & seeds
Moderate evidenceWalnut
Walnuts carry 9.1 g of ALA per 100 g, an order of magnitude beyond other nuts. But the rate at which ALA converts to EPA and DHA is very low.