Is your spinach smoothie doing you more harm than good? What a nutritionist says

Spinach is a superfood fitness enthusiasts swear by. Low in calories and high in nutrients, spinach helps with satiety, provides abundant supply of calcium, Vitamin K, manganese and many micronutrients that can energise you and keep chronic diseases at bay. Palak or spinach is a wonderful veggie for those with anaemia or iron deficiency. It is also adored by people who want to protect their bones as the vegetable helps prevent osteoporosis. (Also read: Spinach recipes: Healthy and tasty palak snacks to boost your child's immunity)

Palak isn't just your boring veggie and you can turn it into lip-smacking palak paneer or crunchy palak pakora. But as per nutrition experts many people might be eating spinach the wrong way even though they may feel 'healthy' and satisfied after eating it. We are talking about spinach smoothie which many health-conscious people combine with apple, dairy or vegan milk along with a mix of green veggies. As per experts, spinach smoothies and spinach juices can lead to kidney stones and gallbladder stones and must be avoided.

Dr Dimple Jangda, Ayurveda and Gut Health coach warns that while spinach or your very own palak is a powerhouse of iron, but it’s also full of a compound called oxalate, which is difficult for the body to absorb and assimilate.

What's the problem with spinach smoothie?

"One glass of spinach juice or a spinach smoothie is equal to eight to ten times the oxalate compound that your body can possibly handle. It binds with the calcium in your body and leads to calcification of stones in your kidneys and your gallbladder," says Dr Jangda in her latest Instagram post.

The nutrition expert says palak juice or smoothie can lead to gut health issues like indigestion, bloating gases, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome. "It can also deposit in the breast tissues and cause health issues for women," says Dr Jangda.

Detox or irritable bowel syndrome?

Dr Jangda says while spinach smoothie can give you short-term relief or "make you run to the bathroom" which leads you to think you’re detoxifying, "you’re actually triggering a symptom called irritable bowel syndrome."

What's the right way to have spinach?

What can you do if your nutritionist or health coach has asked you to have a spinach smoothie?

"Strictly don’t! You always boil it or blanch it. Modern science has evidence that boiling and blanching a spinach helps in reducing the oxalate level by almost 30% to 87%. After boiling and blanching it, you either make a curry or a paste out of it as a vegetable side dish, or you make a soup out of it," says the nutritionist.

"Replace your spinach smoothie with a bowl of spinach soup. Always! Do not go for the short-term results. And then pay a heavy price with kidney stones and gallbladder stones because there are patients who’ve ended up in the hospital, even with kidney dialysis. Be cautious!" concludes Dr Jangda.