Leaf Lettuce The nutritional Clark Kent of the salad bar, this common and unsuspecting leafy green is ready to take its place among the superfoods for weight loss. Two generous cups of lettuce provide 100 percent of your daily vitamin K requirement for strong, healthy bones.
As a vegetable, lettuce provides fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals for very, very few calories. With respect to vitamins, lettuce is a source of folate, a B vitamin needed to make and repair DNA in cells, and vitamin K, a nutrient linked to healthy bones.
These include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, and turnips. They are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, and phytochemicals including indoles, thiocyanates, and nitriles, which may prevent against some types of cancer.
Romaine. Romaine ranked among the top 10 "powerhouse foods," by the CDC, which are classified based on their associations with reduced risk for chronic diseases. It's an especially great source of vitamin A — one cup has 81% of your daily intake — as well as some B vitamins.
lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds, and legumes or beans – 2.5 to 3 serves a day. Dairy and alternatives (mostly reduced fat) – 2.5 to 4 serves a day.
Worst: Iceberg Wedge Salad
It also falls short in the nutrition department. That's because iceberg lettuce contains fewer vitamins and minerals than most dark leafy greens.
Leafy greens will benefit your body no matter if you eat them as raw or cooked vegetables. However, you absorb the abundant minerals such as calcium, iron, and beta carotene in spinach better when it's a cooked vegetable.
Despite its reputation for being a complete zero on the nutritional scale, iceberg lettuce provides significant amounts of vitamins A and K. It also has small amounts of many other healthy nutrients. Although it's low in fiber, it has a high water content, making it a refreshing choice during hot weather.
1. Spinach. This leafy green tops the chart as one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables. That's because 1 cup (30 grams) of raw spinach provides 16% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin A plus 120% of the DV for vitamin K — all for just 7 calories ( 1 ).
The second green to make the list, kale is worth the health hype. “Kale provides a good source of potassium along with calcium and vitamins A, B, C, and K,” Palinski-Wade says.
“With the high water content, iceberg lettuce isn't as rich in [nutrients] as other types of lettuce,” Feller explains. The sky-high levels of H20, mean there's just not as much room for other good stuff, like vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making iceberg lettuce nutrition less impressive.
Generally, lettuce is safe for most people to eat. It isn't a common allergen. Because it's low in calories, there's not a big problem with eating too much lettuce.
Green Leafy Vegetables
Choose from kale, lettuce, spinach and mustard greens to ensure a healthy blood flow. These greens are responsible to increase enzymes in the liver that help promote the blood detoxification process.
Spinach and other leafy green vegetables like kale, lettuce, etc. are great for burning belly fat and are very nutritious as well.
spinach has twice as much potassium, protein, calcium, iron, niacin and vitamins A, C, B, C and B-12 as any other leaf vegetable. Spinach also contains more fiber and minerals including magnesium, phosphorus and potassium than any of the four lettuce types.
Certain ingredients, like the type and amount of mayo used, may significantly increase the calorie and saturated fat content of chicken salad, which may ultimately make it less nutritious than it could be. Just one small 1/2-cup (about 4-ounce) serving of chicken salad often contains 400 calories or more.
Consuming lettuce in excess can cause many side effects. These are mydriasis (dilation of the pupil), photophobia (inability to look at bright light), dizziness, heart and breathing difficulty, excessive sweating, hallucinations, and induced sleep.
Researchers found that people who ate the most nitrate-rich vegetables (especially leafy greens such as spinach and lettuce) had a 12% to 26% lower risk of cardiovascular disease over the course of the study.