Why does spinach make my mouth feel funny?
On a recent visit to one of our favorite little lunch spots, a question arose that hadn’t really ever crossed my mind before. The culprit was a plate of grilled chicken with sauteed spinach and romesco. After thoroughly enjoying my lunch, a phenomenon happened that was so off-putting that I had to get to the bottom of it. Not until I was back at my desk and googling like a mad person, did I find that this is a perfectly natural (however annoying) occurance. Cooked spinach makes your teeth feel…hmmm….fuzzy? No, gritty? Well, it’s more like….stripped with paint thinner. Not that I’ve ever gargled with paint thinner. But, if I had to imagine what it is like, this would be it.
Once I started reading posts in forums about “spinach teeth,” I realized that the tiny little masked man that was making my teeth feel so funny was oxalic acid. “How common is this oxalic acid,” you ask? It is found (in varying amounts) in all kinds of leafy greens, nuts and berries. Spinach is one of the most commonly consumed greens with oxalates. Others include sorrel, rhubarb leaves, beet greens, and taro leaves. One reference to the strange and negative effects of too much oxalic acid is in Jeffrey Steingarten’s book It Must’ve Been Something I Ate. On a flight from China to Japan, he and his wife accidentally ingested raw taro leaves only to be left with a severe case of prickly tongue and a few windpipe issues.
Further study revealed that this chemical compound, in conjunction with calcium, can create kidney stones and gout in addition to the fuzzy teeth. In rare cases, too much oxalic acid has even caused death. On the upside of things, poisoning from too much oxalic acid is less likely than death from a top-hat-wearing circus bear. So, unless you are eating a few gallons of sorrel, spinach, and taro soup every day, you’re set there. It may just be a tad annoying.
Coincidentally, this may explain why Popeye had such a hard time pronouncing words. It could have been a little less sailor’s mouth and a little more “spinach teeth.” Think about it…
