Spinach nutrition facts
If you’re like most people, you know spinach is good for you, even if you don’t include it on your shopping list. It’s loaded with folate, iron, vitamin K, magnesium, calcium and phytonutrients.
Phytonutrients, or plant nutrients, are natural nutrients in plants that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors and respective health benefits when consumed. They also are effective ingredients in skin care. That’s why spinach is a key ingredient in Nutrilite™ supplements and Artistry™ skin care products.
And because traceability is a priority at Amway, the spinach used in those products can be traced right back to the seeds planted at our certified organic Nutrilite farm in El Petacal, Mexico.
Carefully selected spinach variety
The spinach grown on our farm doesn’t look like the baby spinach in your favorite salad or for sale at your local farmers market.
The El Petacal spinach has massive leaves to maximize its nutrient content. Our researchers landed on this variety after analyzing multiple kinds to find the one that would meet our high nutrient standards and thrive in our farm’s climate.
“This vibrant, deep green plant means our spinach has a high concentration of the beneficial phytonutrients we are looking for,” said Ana Chavez, who handles communications for Nutrilite Rancho El Petacal.
[RELATED: Why color matters in your fruits and vegetables]
Spinach is hand harvested
It takes just 65 days in the field for our spinach to reach its peak nutrient content and be ready for harvest, she said. “We get two harvests from each plant, chopping the leaves off by hand with a sanitized, stainless steel knife.”
When our testing and documentation confirms that nutrient levels have peaked, we carefully cut only the portion of the plant needed—the mature leaves and a bit of the stem. This precision helps prevent any weeds from getting taken up with the harvest and allows a second crop from the same plant.
Once the second harvest of spinach is complete, our crews till the remaining plant back into the field where it will decompose and release its nutrients back to the soil to feed the next crop.
Preserving the plant nutrients
Immediately upon harvest, the spinach is washed, chopped and loaded into the dehydrator. Every crop has an ideal drying temperature for peak quality and nutrient levels. For spinach, we set the dial to a toasty 70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit—that’s hot! Once it’s finished, we mill the dried leaves into a fine, rich powder.
As part of the traceability process we require for all Nutrilite botanicals, we test samples and document the results throughout the growing, drying and milling process to ensure purity, safety and effectiveness.
[RELATED: What does traceability look like in your supplement?]
Checking and rechecking ingredient quality
With all the nutrients captured in its powdered state, we package up the spinach and send it on to manufacturing facilities for Nutrilite or Artistry products. Part of that packaging is a number that connects that batch to all the documentation recorded on the farm, verifying everything it went through to get there, starting with the seed and ending with the powder.
When crews receive the spinach powder at the manufacturing facilities, they do their own testing to verify that the contents and the quality are up to par before it’s used. Once it’s verified, the spinach powder goes on to its final destination.
Putting the plant nutrients to work
You’ll find it in supplements like Nutrilite Concentrated Fruits and Vegetables, where it is part of the phytonutrient equivalent of 5+ servings of fruits and vegetables found in each tablet. You’ll also find it in some Artistry Skin Nutrition™ products, where it’s combined with turmeric and tea olive flower to help restore skin’s youthful-looking condition by helping support elasticity and firmness. It also helps reverse the visible signs of aging.
No matter where the spinach is used, it’s contributing nutrients that were carefully cultivated from a tiny seed on our certified organic farm in El Petacal. To learn more about our farms or the products they support, visit the links below.
To learn more about Amway, its brands and its products,
click on the website where you live:
Some products may not be available in Canada or the Dominican Republic or may be sold under a different name.
