Spinach good or bad

[bednarkim77]

Someone told me spinach is bad for gray's but it's one of the only vegetables she will eat.
Is it good or bad?

[CritterMom]

Someone told me spinach is bad for gray's but it's one of the only vegetables she will eat.
Is it good or bad?

Both. Spinach has lots of calcium, which is good, but also tons of oxalic acid, which is bad (hard on the kidneys). I do not feed it for this reason. Kale is similar with the calcium but much lower in oxalic acid. Some of the baby lettuces that are sold in spring mixes may fill the bill for her too. But read the label because lots of them have tons of baby spinach in them.

[bednarkim77]

Thank you.
She loves the spring mixes but it's hard to find some with out lots of spinach in it.
She hates kale and she is such a picky girl . I have struggled for 5 years getting her to eat good.
Now she has MBD (she is much better now).
I wish there was a veggie high with vitamin D and C that she would eat.

[Diggie's Friend]

Try organic Kale, it is also liked by squirrels. https://www.earthboundfarm.com/products/frozen-organic-kale/

Higher in calcium and low in oxalic acid; organic lower than conventional produced greens in oxalic acid content.

Oxalic acid readily bonds with calcium carbonate in the intestines into a form that the body isn't able to utilize for the bones and cells.

Flash freezing increases digestibility of greens as does blanching 90's sec. making more of the calcium it contains available to be used by the body.

Frozen then cooked greens are higher in calcium than fresh cooked.

Frozen eliminates waste. This handy dandy tea strainer makes the process of making this daily a breeze!

https://www.amazon.com/VAHDAM-Infusers-Stainless-Strainer-Strainers/dp/B074L3R29X/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=opuyOakPxwih1eUUufI.MA&hsa_cr_id=8218896260201&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0

[bednarkim77]

Wow great information thank you so much!

[Diggie's Friend]

Immature leafy greens which are higher in calcium than oxalic acidic include: Japanese Mustard spinach (related to turnips not spinaches), lettuces, endives, escarole, radicchio, Bok Choy, Pak Choy, arugula, mizuna and other Asian cabbages.

When boiled the oxalic acid levels of these vegetable sources are reduced and the availability of their calcium increased to the body: headed cabbages, florets of broccoli & cauliflower, green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas, asparagus tips (buds), kohlrabi, green peas, carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas.

Leafy green and vegetables sources with a greater than (2:1) ratio of oxalic acid to calcium that provide nil available calcium to the bones, also was found in rats to lower calcium availability in other foods that are consumed with spinach, lowering it by 41% in rats. These sources, some found in the grocery section of markets, and other commonly found edible weeds, include: (Purslane, Lamb's quarters, Chards, Beet Leaves and roots, Rhubarbs, Amaranth leaves, Sorrels, Pigweed, clovers, and true spinach varieties, teas).


Oxalic acid decreases calcium absorption in rats

C M Weaver 1 , B R Martin, J S Ebner, C A Krueger (1987)

Calcium bioavailability was nearly 10 times greater for low oxalate kale, CaCO3 (Calcium carbonate) and CaCl2 (Calcium chloride)

than from CaC2O4 (calcium oxalate) and spinach (high in oxalates).

[Beecheykeen]

Immature leafy greens which are higher in calcium than oxalic acidic include: Japanese Mustard spinach (related to turnips not spinaches), lettuces, endives, escarole, radicchio, Bok Choy, Pak Choy, arugula, mizuna and other Asian cabbages.

When boiled the oxalic acid levels of these vegetable sources are reduced and the availability of their calcium increased to the body: headed cabbages, florets of broccoli & cauliflower, green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas, asparagus tips (buds), kohlrabi, green peas, carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas.

Leafy green and vegetables sources with a greater than (2:1) ratio of oxalic acid to calcium that provide nil available calcium to the bones, also was found in rats to lower calcium availability in other foods that are consumed with spinach, lowering it by 41% in rats. These sources, some found in the grocery section of markets, and other commonly found edible weeds, include: (Purslane, Lamb's quarters, Chards, Beet Leaves and roots, Rhubarbs, Amaranth leaves, Sorrels, Pigweed, clovers, and true spinach varieties, teas).

Hey, I know this was from 2017, but I was curious if the worry of high oxalates was for all squirrels or tree squirrels. I have a little CA ground squirrel and a local rehabbed I had a chance encounter with said tree squirrels and ground squirrels have different nutritional needs, and there's not a lot of information on that subject. :)

[Diggie's Friend]

Hey, I know this was from 2017, but I was curious if the worry of high oxalates was for all squirrels or tree squirrels. I have a little CA ground squirrel and a local rehabbed I had a chance encounter with said tree squirrels and ground squirrels have different nutritional needs, and there's not a lot of information on that subject. :)

I would agree that tree squirrels diets are not that of hay that prairie dogs and that of short tailed ground squirrel diets. Their diet has much in common with that of chipmunks; they have cheek pouches that they fill up with foods to carry back to their burrows. Also like chipmunks, they will eat foods as well where they find them. And like chipmunks, they are limited to climbing trees, not doing much for jumping as tree squirrels do. Their tails though aren't short like chipmunks, that allows them to be better to balance in trees, but not on small limbs or jump like tree squirrels.

In Summer through Fall, "Beechey ground squirrel", aka: 'California ground squirrel', fills its pouches with to eat and to stash. In Winter through Spring it consumes a diet dominant in plant sources and parts, not just grasses as the short tailed ground squirrels and prairie dog diets are proportionally high in.


California ground squirrels are opportunistic, but prefer a wide range of forbs, grasses, and leaves of lower growing shrubs during the months when green forage is readily available (generally from November through March/April). Otherwise, California ground squirrels rely on seeds as their primary food source. They carry food away in their cheek pouches so that they may hull the seeds in safe, shady spots or cache them for consumption at a later time. They also eat some species of invertebrates.


http://www.groundsquirrelbmp.com/behavior-diet.html

California ground squirrels exhibit seasonal food preferences. After hibernation and throughout gestation and lactation, they feed almost exclusively on green grasses and other herbaceous plants. As these become less plentiful, they switch to seeds and fruits. This dramatic switch occurs over about a two-week period.

(See pie chart for seasonal food consumption)

This species of ground squirrel also consumes variety of foods when in season, yet the greatest proportions of their diet comes from plant parts for half the year, and seeds and nuts the other.


Their diet is is primarily seed-based, including barley, oats, and acorns. They eat eggs, insects, roots, tubers, seeds, grains, nuts and fruit. Ground squirrels are known to eat grasshoppers, crickets, beetles and caterpillars.

[Diggie's Friend]

In the warmer coastal regions of California, the Beechey (CA) Ground Squirrel doesn't hibernate, but remains active all year.

In captivity, this species has been found to live up to (6 to 10) years.