Spinach is known for its nutritional and health benefits, but does its effect extend to physical strength and athletic performance similar to banned stimulants? This is what an international research team wanted to ascertain through a study. How was the result?
Many of us remember the cartoon series in which Popeye's character, whose muscles swell and swell as soon as he eats spinach,
A team of international researchers at the Free University of Berlin wanted to make sure that this effect on athletes was correct. They conducted a study published in the journal "Archives of toxicology" specialized in medical research, and the result was surprising to think about adding spinach to the list of banned stimulants, that?
According to the SPIEGEL website, the supervisors collected 46 athletes who asked to eat ecdysterone in the spinach for 10 weeks, and then to do exercises such as jumping and weightlifting.
Stronger muscles
The result was that the athletes who took the addicted substance had a better overall performance, and their muscles were stronger than others.
The effect of the addictone appeared more in weight lifting exercises. Participants who took two tablets of this substance were able, after 10 days of exercise, to carry an additional 9.5kg of weight, compared to only 3.3kg for the other participants.
"Our hypothesis was to see an increase in athletic performance, but we never expected to have that big difference," said Maria Christina of the Free University of Berlin in an interview with the German first channel.
Following this finding, the study team was advised to include the ingredient in the list of banned stimulants, but the decision remained with the WADA, which provided financial support for the study.
Unlike concentrated ecdystone, spinach in the market does not have the same effect on athletic performance. Those who want to increase their physical strength through spinach should eat a large amount of it, according to SPIEGEL.
For example, the study participants took 800 mg of the daily ecdistron, which is equivalent to more than six kilograms of natural spinach.