Will you get kidney stones if you don't blanch spinach before cooking?

We all know that spinach is a common vegetable. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, etc. Eating it in moderation can supplement the nutrients needed by the body and play a good role. Many people will fry spinach to eat. So do you need to blanch spinach before frying? Let's take a closer look!

Do you need to blanch spinach before cooking?

Spinach usually needs to be blanched before stir-frying.

Because spinach has a particularly high oxalic acid content of 0.97%. Oxalic acid combines with calcium ions in the human body to form insoluble calcium oxalate. Calcium oxalate cannot be absorbed by the human body and will hinder people's absorption of calcium. Blanching can destroy and release about 80% of the oxalic acid in spinach.

Oxalic acid is the main component of astringency. If spinach is cooked without blanching, it will taste bitter when eaten.

In short, spinach needs to be blanched before cooking to remove the large amount of oxalic acid it contains. Otherwise, it will not only affect the taste of food, but also produce insoluble calcium oxalate, greatly increasing the risk of stone formation.

What happens if you don't blanch spinach before cooking?

Spinach is indeed a vegetable that contains a lot of oxalic acid and phytic acid. If people who love spinach eat it in large quantities for a long time, it is really possible that too much oxalic acid and phytic acid enter the body. If oxalate ions enter the blood in large quantities for a long time, they can combine with calcium ions in the blood to form insoluble calcium oxalate components. This calcium oxalate precipitate will not be unable to be metabolized and deposited in the kidneys in large quantities, causing kidney stones. However, the more serious problem is that blood calcium is combined. If this continues for a long time, the calcium ion content in the blood is too low, causing hypocalcemia, which in turn induces osteoporosis and threatens bone and dental health.

Spinach contains a lot of oxalic acid, which will hinder the body's absorption of calcium, so it is best to blanch the spinach in boiling water before cooking.

Oxalic acid will combine with calcium to form an insoluble precipitate, but oxalic acid is highly soluble in water. Simply blanch the spinach in boiling water for 1 minute and then take it out to remove more than 80% of the oxalic acid.

Although blanching spinach can remove more than 80% of the oxalic acid, the remaining small amount has no problem for normal people, but the purine content in spinach is relatively high. People with high uric acid, kidney disease, or stone-forming constitution are best not to eat spinach as it may affect their health.

To sum up, it is best to blanch spinach before cooking. On the one hand, it can destroy the oxalic acid (which is also the main component of astringency) that is harmful to the human body. On the other hand, it can also remove the bacteria and harmful substances that may be carried on the surface of the spinach, and avoid the large amount of soup caused by direct cooking.

Other ways to cook spinach

1. Sesame oil spinach: After blanching the spinach, add shredded carrots, sesame seeds, salt and sesame oil and mix it cold. It is best to drizzle a little sesame paste on it, which not only tastes good but also has a better calcium supplement effect.

2. Spinach with garlic: Arrange the blanched spinach on a plate, put a little oil in a wok on the fire, when the oil is 60% to 70% hot, turn off the heat, add garlic, salt and light soy sauce, stir and pour on the spinach. You can also add some sesame seeds to the hot oil, which looks good and tastes good.

3. Spinach and pork liver: Put the blanched spinach into a plate and set aside, then cut the pork liver into thin slices or rectangular strips as thin as possible for better flavor. You can also choose to add some big red bell peppers and mix them together with sesame oil, light soy sauce, salt, garlic foam, etc., so that it will be delicious!

4. It can also be made into spinach cakes, spinach egg drop soup, spinach pork liver soup, etc.