Have you heard of the astronaut space salad? Hint: it’s exactly what you think it might be. This expertly designed combination of foods was created to offer space pioneers a balanced, nutritious meal while also being delicious. Learn what makes this salad unique, plus how you can reap its benefits at home (no spaceship required).
What Is an Astronaut Space Salad?
The space salad is a combination of poppy seeds, soybeans, barley, kale, sunflower seeds, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. And while the name may inspire a chuckle, these ingredients were carefully chosen for a multitude of reasons—many of which we don’t necessarily need to worry about here on Earth.
To create this salad, researchers from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom conducted various studies to determine which foods would be included. This salad was engineered not only for current space activities but also with future missions in mind, like travel to Mars.
One of the main factors was, of course, nutrition—astronauts need slightly altered amounts of certain nutrients due to the change in circadian rhythms and lack of gravity that they experience. For example, weight-bearing exercise is a key component to maintaining bone health, and that is effectively impossible in space. Because of this, the diet of a space traveler needs to be especially robust in calcium and vitamin D, in addition to being balanced in all the other macro and micronutrients.
From a culinary perspective, this salad recipe also has to deliver flavor, texture, color, and freshness. When considering astronaut mental health, food can be a conduit for connection and, frankly, happiness when you’re living in the same small space over a long period of time away from family, friends, and the comforts of home.
The salad is also notably vegetarian. While astronauts do enjoy meat on their missions, resupplying food from an outside source (which would eventually be required with meat-based products) on the deep space missions set for the future simply won’t be possible.
This brings us to the other primary consideration, which is what foods can be grown on a spacecraft hydroponically, freeing the vessel from the need for mid-mission sustenance delivery. With this growing method in mind, researchers took into account each plant’s water requirements, space needs, growth rate, and inedible food waste produced. Especially for longer missions, fresh foods are paramount to the well-being of these astronauts.
Health Benefits of Space Salad
So what’s so special about the seven foods that made the cut? Here’s a look into the unique nutrition profiles of the ingredients found in this perfect space salad.
Soybeans
Also known as edamame, soybeans are loaded with nutrition—including protein, fiber, vitamins K and C, and lots of B vitamins including thiamin, riboflavin, folate, and vitamin B6. It’s chock-full of minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium. With this combo of nutrients, there are very few body systems these beans don’t positively influence. Still, they are particularly beneficial in promoting strong bones, digestive regularity, energy metabolism, tissue development, immune health, and fluid balance throughout the body.
Poppy Seeds
While you may not consider these seeds to be good for anything beyond topping a bagel or dotting your favorite muffin, they are actually super nutritious. Full of fiber, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus, these tiny seeds promote bone, digestive, and heart health from multiple fronts.
Barley
This classic soup addition offers a rich, nutty flavor and is packed with nutrients including fiber, protein, B vitamins thiamin, folate, and B6. It also boasts high amounts of selenium, manganese, copper, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and magnesium. These add up to barley offering optimal energy, digestion, immunity, and tissue development for our fearless space travelers.
Kale
A health food fan-favorite, kale is not only super easy to grow but is full of fiber and vitamins A, C, and K. Vitamins A and C are antioxidants that help boost the immune system and reduce inflammation throughout the body while vitamin K plays an integral role in blood clotting.
Peanuts
Compared to the other nuts, peanuts have gotten a bad rap as of late. But they’re actually quite good for us - full of protein, vitamin E, thiamin, riboflavin, B6, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. These nutrients combine to leave us feeling energized and our bodies functioning at their highest capacity.
Sunflower Seeds
These seeds make for a perfectly satisfying snack thanks to their heart-healthy unsaturated fat, protein, fiber, vitamin E, B vitamin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium content.
Sweet Potatoes
Finally, this sibling of the classic Russet offers us massive amounts of immune and eye health-boosting vitamin A plus vitamin C, fiber, multiple B vitamins, manganese, potassium, and copper.
All of these impressively healthy plant-based foods also provide a healthy dose of plant compounds or phytonutrients. These bioactive compounds are antioxidants that help to boost the immune system, reduce bodily inflammation, and keep chronic illness at bay. You may notice that none of the salad ingredients are high in vitamin D because this nutrient is mighty tough to come by naturally in food. This is a vitamin astronauts likely take in supplement form.
Ways to Enjoy Space Salad at Home
Thankfully, you don’t need to leave the planet to enjoy this salad's health benefits. Whether you combine all seven ingredients with a tangy vinaigrette at home to get the full experience or you mix and match these foods, you’ll be sure to reap the health benefits of this perfect culinary combination.
One fun twist on these ingredients includes mixing sauteed kale and sweet potato with fresh edamame and cooked barley, then stir in sunflower and poppy seeds. Toss with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce, and viola—you have a delicious new take on the famed space salad.
The thought, creativity, and research that went into creating the astronaut space salad is not to be overlooked, whether on Earth or spaceside. By understanding how the seven foods making up this dish impact our health, we can make an effort to include them in our everyday lives, helping us to be just as strong and healthy as professional space pioneers!