Ugugugugug. Well blow me down! It seems that now, Popeye‘s favorite super-powering snack isn’t just good for your heart because it provides vitamins and your daily dose of veggies. It can also be made into heart tissue to help folks recovering from cardiac issues.
No, this isn’t going to turn you into Swamp Thing. Basically, the plant cells are all stripped away from the leaf, leaving the vascular structures which, on a micro-level, are a challenge to try to recreate. Blood and other fluids can be pumped through the leaf’s vascular network, and in the future this could help to grow heart tissue to repair damaged areas where cells have died.
Via the UK’s Independent, the above video from Worcester Polytechnic Insititute explains it better. It’s pretty amazing stuff, even if it’s not quite as magical as the way cartoon spinach can morph an animated sailor-man’s bicep into the shape of a battleship. Baby steps, science. But maybe this discovery explains why, despite the number of times Olive Oyl has had a wandering eye for evil bearded men, Popeye’s heart has rarely broken. His many battles were not in vain…but they might just be in vein.
Does this make you look at the hearty vegetable in a whole new way? Is it all an elaborate scheme to trick Dracula into eating his greens? Will sentient spinach one day learn to fall in love? Probably not that last thing. But we find the implications fascinating. What say you, readers? Comment below and tell us.
Image: YouTube/WPI
