Scientists in Berlin, Germany say they've found a chemical in SPINACH called ecdysterone.
And they say that chemical is close enough to STEROIDS that spinach should be a banned substance for athletes. Seriously. They think spinach belongs on the list of doping supplements.
The scientists ran a test where some athletes ate almost nine pounds of spinach a day and some didn't. The ones who ate the spinach increased their strength up to three times more.
The researchers say, quote, "Our hypothesis was that we would see an increase in performance, but we didn't expect it to be that big."
The World Anti-Doping Authority says it's planning to look more into spinach and ecdysterone based on the results of this study.
Source: DW