# Longevity Spinach (Gynura Procumbens)



## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

Where can I buy Longevity Spinach (Gynura Procumbens) in Calgary? I have searched Google but unfortunately did not find any store, where I can buy Longevity Spinach. Thanks!

http://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/longevity-spinach-is-it-true-what-they-say


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Start out by skiing nurseries, se if they can bring it in for you. You could then try local seed banks and organic health type places, or find an online seed distributor.


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

Or, check yourself in the mirror. If you don't have floppy ears and a cute puffy tail, you can probably skip it.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

I'm not familiar with Longevity Spinach but you could call the Hong Kong market on 17th Ave SE.

http://hongkongfoodmarket.ca

Hong Kong International Food Market 
3215 17 Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2A 0R1
Telephone: +1-403-387-7798


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

steve41 said:


> Or, check yourself in the mirror. If you don't have floppy ears and a cute puffy tail, you can probably skip it.


Plants too far down the food chain? Just add a few leaves to your shark fin soup along with the dried seahorses and you're good to go.


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

olivaw said:


> I'm not familiar with Longevity Spinach but you could call the Hong Kong market on 17th Ave SE.
> 
> http://hongkongfoodmarket.ca
> 
> ...


I will try there...thanks!


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

steve41 said:


> Or, check yourself in the mirror. If you don't have floppy ears and a cute puffy tail, you can probably skip it.


It was for someone else...


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

folks there is disturbing news out there. Spinach is bad for you.

spinach is one of those plants - like rhubarb - that has lots of oxylates. Oxylates bind with calcium in the blood to form a salt that is excreted. 

since the blood calcium/potassium balance must remain constant, the body then obligingly removes calcium from bones, to compensate for the lost calcium oxylate.

i've seen plenty headlines about this. They all shriek the same. PopEye was wrong! shriek the headlines.

spinach? if you want demineralized bones, frequent fractures, premature old age & a painful early death, then by all means go for spinach.

.


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

This web downplays the dangers of spinach leading to calcium excretion.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/what-are-the-best-sources-of-calcium



> Although spinach has a lot of good stuff going for it, it’s not a great source of calcium.
> Not all food-based calcium is well-absorbed. Spinach, for example, contains quite a bit of calcium but it also contains a lot of oxalates. These natural compounds bind with calcium and make it very difficult for your body to get at it. Although spinach has a lot of good stuff going for it, it’s not a great source of calcium. In fact, because the oxalates in spinach can bind to the calcium in other foods as well, it can even keep you from getting as much calcium from the foods that you eat with it. Unless you never eat calcium-rich foods except with spinach, this is not a big deal—just something to keep in mind.


So spinach while lead to excretion of calcium from foods you eat with it, you don't eat spinach all the time and during those times you don't eat spinach you can absorb the calcium from your food.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

wraphter said:


> This web downplays the dangers of spinach leading to calcium excretion.
> 
> http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/what-are-the-best-sources-of-calcium
> 
> So spinach while lead to excretion of calcium from foods you eat with it, you don't eat spinach all the time and during those times you don't eat spinach you can absorb the calcium from your food.




lol who wants to obtain nutrition tips from quick n dirty sources

dandelions now - _taraxacum officinale_- those young green leaves at this time of year have more vitamins & more minerals including calcium than spinach has ever heard of

.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> Just add a few leaves to your shark fin soup along with the dried seahorses and you're good to go.



onlyMO a few years ago we had this great recipe thread mostly built by cmffer "brad" who was one of the great cooks of all time

i contributed a couple vietnamese recipes for stimulating sexual appetites & stamina. Dried seahorses were one ingredient.

.


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

Dangers of spinach are over-stated. This BBC report lists the nutritional benefits of spinach and it doesn't go into the dangers of spinach causing osteoporosis.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-spinach



> It is well known for its nutritional qualities and has always been regarded as a plant with remarkable abilities to restore energy, increase vitality and improve the quality of the blood. There are sound reasons why spinach would produce such results, primarily the fact that it is rich in iron. Iron plays a central role in the function of red blood cells which help in transporting oxygen around the body, in energy production and DNA synthesis. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach. Others include kale, broccoli and green cabbage.
> 
> ................
> 
> ...


This BBC site doesn't warn against eating spinach. On the contrary, it promotes it.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

wrapht u would be ***-tonished at the number of foods that are deadly dangerous

i kid you not. Eating a meal is far more risky than investing in options :tongue-new:

.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

I personally believe, based on some research, that you can't go wrong basing your diet on a variety of items from the produce aisle and avoiding sugar and processed food. I definitely wouldn't worry about eating spinach.


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## Parkuser (Mar 12, 2014)

humble_pie said:


> wrapht u would be ***-tonished at the number of foods that are deadly dangerous
> 
> ...
> 
> .


I would also add that it is a scientific fact, well documented in numerous papers, that feeding huge amounts of any food to rats causes cancer. Works especially well with rats and mice genetically susceptible to cancer, bred for research. This is why we learn from newspapers that hard boiled eggs cause cancer, tomatoes cause cancer, or potatoes cause cancer.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

what an interesting cocktail, said Socrates, as he sipped daintily on his hemlock-with-honey-&-mead

water hemlock, the weed that supposedly executed the greek philosopher, grows rampantly all over southern quebec. Its stems are splotched with dark red patches, a tell-tale giveaway. In the provincial parks, they keep tearing the plant out so that kids won't play with it.

.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Parkuser said:


> I would also add that it is a scientific fact, well documented in numerous papers, that feeding huge amounts of any food to rats causes cancer. Works especially well with rats and mice genetically susceptible to cancer, bred for research. This is why we learn from newspapers that hard boiled eggs cause cancer, tomatoes cause cancer, or potatoes cause cancer.



tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants & tobacco all belong to the nightshade family, whose infamous death-stalking member is deadly nightshade. 

there's a less harmful cousin called woody nightshade, which grows all over eastern canada. In cities, just about every vacant lot, laneway or parking lot has a few woody nightshades. The woody version will make a person ill, but unlike the deadly cousin it won't kill.

you've all seen how some potatoes have a thin green layer just below the skin, or green around the potato eyes? these areas contain solanum, the poisonous chemical of atropa belladonna, the deadly nightshade herself.

some authorities say to throw such a potato out, others say it's sufficient to cut all the green away. I belong to the cut-off-green school. I've only seen a few greening potatoes in my lifetime. I survived em.

.


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## Parkuser (Mar 12, 2014)

humble_pie said:


> ...
> 
> you've all seen how some potatoes have a thin green layer just below the skin, or green around the potato eyes? these areas contain solanum, the poisonous chemical of atropa belladonna, the deadly nightshade herself.
> 
> some authorities say to throw such a potato out, others say it's sufficient to cut all the green away. I belong to the cut-off-green school. I've only seen a few greening potatoes in my lifetime. I survived em.


Well, I vaguely knew this; my mother told me to always peel young potatoes. But I do not see any new potatoes with green patches on the shelves in the supermarket. Unless you grow them yourself it’s not a problem. On the other hand, I like small potatoes boiled with skins, tossed with feta cheese and olives. Eating them is not that bad way to die.


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

The green comes from sunlight hitting the potatoes. Keep the potatoes out of the light and they'll be fine.
https://www.fsai.ie/faq/green_potatoes.html
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/greenpotatoes.asp


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

I don't think longevity spinach is even related to the spinach we eat that has high levels of oxalates.
It's a perennial vine.
http://herbsfromdistantlands.blogspot.ca/2015/02/gynura-procumbens-sabungai-leaves-of.html

As far as oxalates go, from some of what I've read today, it seems if you consume foods that are a good calcium source along with high oxalate foods, then you shouldn't have anything to be concerned about.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=48
(excerpt)..


> However, two further considerations cause us not to be worried in a broad sense about interference with calcium absorption from oxalates. First is the nature of the public health recommendations for calcium. These recommendations—like all nutrient recommendations—take the realities of absorption into account. At WHFoods, for example, our recommended daily intake level for calcium is 1,000 milligrams. This recommended level factors in the amount of calcium absorption from different foods, including foods like spinach that contain high levels of oxalates.
> 
> Second is the research on different populations or population subgroups that eat different mixtures of plant and animal foods. Studies show individuals who eat largely plant-based diets (i.e., vegetarians) do not have greater calcium deficiency or increased risk of osteoporosis, which you might predict if substances like oxalates were impairing calcium absorption in a way that would create a health risk. Calcium is definitely not absorbed as well from oxalate-containing versus non-oxalate-containing foods, but from our perspective this difference does not make intake of oxalate-containing foods either irrelevant or counter-productive in terms of their impact on calcium status. We therefore continue to recommend enjoyment of all WHFoods fruits and vegetables as worthwhile contributors to calcium intake, including those with higher oxalate concentrations.


Spinach still has a lot of health benefits, only one of them being a great source of iron in an organic form, and as a leafy green it's also high in calcium, (even if the high level of oxalates make it harder to absorb that calcium).

Unless you happen have a condition like kidney stones or gout, I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid spinach.

I happen to have gout, mostly controlled through diet & exercise since I found out what it was, so after my research today I'll be cutting down a bit on high oxalate foods as well going forward, (along with cutting down on foods high in uric acid, which I already have been doing).


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

mrPPincer said:


> The green comes from sunlight hitting the potatoes. Keep the potatoes out of the light and they'll be fine.
> https://www.fsai.ie/faq/green_potatoes.html
> http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/greenpotatoes.asp



dang i like to keep a few potatoes on a sunny windowsill to ripen em


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

humble_pie said:


> dang i like to keep a few potatoes on a sunny windowsill to ripen em


Shouldn't be a problem; maybe just remember to have the bathroom window open a bit, and have a few extra rolls of TP set out if you serve your guests that delicious green potato salad :apple:


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> folks there is disturbing news out there. Spinach is bad for you.
> 
> spinach is one of those plants - _like rhubarb_ - that has lots of oxylates. Oxylates bind with calcium in the blood to form a salt that is excreted.
> .


You made me look humble. I love rhubarb so I was somewhat concerned but it turns out that the oxalates are in the leaves and not the stalk. 

Rhubarb and custard was a pretty common desert when I was young.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

there are lots oxalates in rhubarb leaves. Enough to kill, if one consumes a large quantity every day. Did you get to the Wiki part about how some Brits died during WW I because wartime england was encouraging rhubarb leaf salads? 

but there are some oxalates in those delicious pink rhubarb stalks tout de meme.

rhubarb roots are another story. Important plant part in traditional chinese medicine. I had this chinese classmate, he was so excited to see rhubarb plants in canada, he couldn't believe we were only cooking the pink stalks while discardng the truly valuable part of the growth which was the rootstock.


PS i'm just joking around with the oxylate-belladonna-atropine stuff. Usually cmffers are great with jokes. But for some reason this thread remains deadly serious. Olivaw i'm counting on you to lighten it up.

.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> PS i'm just joking around with the oxylate-belladonna-atropine stuff. Usually cmffers are great with jokes. But for some reason this thread remains deadly serious. Olivaw i'm counting on you to lighten it up.


Serious business this forum lately - I think the looming peanut butter shortage, the great flood and the poisonous spinach has us on edge.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

I appreciate the lessons I am receiving about rhubarb on this thread. I was heretofore unaware of the oxalates threat.

Recently I discovered that we are not the best stewards of rhubarb. I happened to look out the window a few days ago and saw a tall stalk growing out of one of the plants, with flowers on it. So I turned to the internet to get info about whether that was a good thing, a bad thing or a neutral thing. To my chagrin, I learned that out rhubarb had "bolted" and that rhubarb allowed to bolt is a shameful thing. There is no use in closing the garden gate after the rhubarb has bolted. 

I expect any time now social workers from the office of the Director of Child, Family and Community Service and Public Rhubarb Guardian (an aspect of the community service role) will arrive to apprehend our rhubarb and place it in foster care under a temporary custody order. With a bit of luck, our plants will in time be returned, but under supervision.


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