Popeye has known it for a long time, now science has confirmed it: Spinach helps you to build muscle mass. An international study commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency was able to prove muscle growth through the substance ecdysterone contained in spinach.
A team from the Free University of Berlin observed a total of 46 athletes over a period of ten weeks, who were given either ecdysterone tablets or a placebo. Before and after the test period, the athletes completed athletic exercises such as squats or bench presses. The result: the maximum strength of the ecdysterone group was on average three times higher than that of the placebo group.
As a consequence, the WADA researchers recommended that the substance be placed on the anti-doping list. However, the problem is that it is not possible to prove whether ecdysterone was supplied through spinach or concentrated tablets. In any case, the training boost is not quite as simple as Popeye's: to achieve a similar effect as the study participants, athletes would have to consume between 250 grams and four kilos a day, depending on the type of spinach, for weeks on end.
