ORGANIC SPINACH Herbaceous plant of the family of the Quenopodiaceae. In the Anonymous Toscano of the 13th century, one of the first known cookbooks, a recipe for spinach appears. There are several types of leaves: affixed, split, lobed, oval, rounded ... From the armpits of the leaves or directly from the neck arise lateral stems that give rise to secondary ramifications. They are consumed slightly cooked or raw in salads when they are young. The nutritional value of spinach lies in its high content of vitamins and minerals. In particular, this food provides a large amount of folic acid and vitamin C, and lower amounts of vitamin E, B6, niacin, thiamin ... Spinach also provide significant amounts of beta-carotenes, compounds that in addition to becoming a vitamin In our body (provitamin A), they perform antioxidant and stimulatory actions of the immune system, so that their high intake has been linked to a lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Likewise, they contain a large quantity of other carotenoids without provitamin A activity such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which are found in the human lens and the retina, specifically in the macula (zone of greater visual acuity) whose degeneration is the main cause of blindness in old age. Some authors have indicated that the habitual consumption of spinach is beneficial in the conservation of visual acuity and prevents the development of cataracts. With regard to minerals, the high proportion of magnesium and iron is noteworthy. Some dietary factors such as vitamin C significantly improve the absorption of the iron contained in spinach, when administered simultaneously. Spinach also contains other bioactive compounds that participate in important functions in the body such as glutathione, ferulic acid, which has been shown to be the most effective antioxidant against the oxidation of the LDL-cholesterol fraction (mechanism involved in the development of cardiovascular disease) , caffeic acid and beta-coumaric acid. In addition, they provide an appreciable amount of fiber (soluble and insoluble), which favors intestinal transit, and prevents colon cancer and cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, some studies carried out on animals have proven that spinach proteins are capable of preventing the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and bile acids, so their consumption could also help reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood .