Popeye was right about spinach!

Proponents of spinach have long been accused of crying wolf — or, more precisely, Erich von Wolf, the German professor whose mistaken placement of a decimal point led to the myth that 100 gm of the leafy vegetable contained 35 mg of iron. Only a not-too-bright sailor named Popeye remained obstinately devoted to its magical strength-giving properties, consuming cans of spinach before vanquishing enemies many times his size. So, it must now be a matter of some embarrassment to the scientific community that Popeye was actually on to something: it is now established that spinach contains a natural steroid-like chemical called ecdysterone that increases muscle mass — just like Popeye — when taken in large doses.

Of course, it takes more than a few cans of spinach (Popeye’s usual quota) to show results, as under test conditions, athletes ate 4 kg of the vegetable for weeks before their performance improved. But improve they did, so Popeye and his creator E C Segar stand vindicated. As do millions of mothers who still coax reluctant children to eat it. As its role as a performance enhancer has not made it to the international ban list for sportspersons yet, examination of spinach consumption (or cultivation to extract the chemical) worldwide could be on the cards. Maybe even palak paneer could become a no-no for our athletes one day.