Health benefits of Lettuce

Crispy, green,crimson-red colored lettuce is one of the incredible leafy vegetables packed with essential nutrients that benefit overall general health. Indeed, it is among the most sought-after greens, be it in your crunchy, green salads or healthy vegetable sandwiches!

Botanically this marvelous, nutrition rich leafy green belongs to the daisy family of Asteraceae.

 Scientific name: Lactuca sativa. 


Lactuca sativa is a small size annual plant flourishes in well-draining, humus soil. Its leaves exude milk like fluid (sap) when cut, and hence their name derived from Latin, lactuca for milk. There are about six varieties of cultivars exist based upon head formation and leaf structure. The leaf varieties with more bitter taste are rather rich in antioxidants.

Here are some popular varieties grown around the globe:-

    Butter-head, with loose heads; it has a buttery texture. Butter head cultivars are most popular and widely grown in Europe.

    Chinese variety or celtuce, generally have long, tapering, non-head forming, strong-flavored leaves unlike its Western counterparts. They are, therefore, used preferred in stir fried dishes and stews.

    Crisp-head variety forms tight, dense heads that resemble cabbage. They are generally the mildest form, valued more for their crunchy texture than flavor. Cultivars of the crisp head are the most familiar type used in the USA.

    Loose-leaf variety features tender, delicate and fully flavored leaves with a loose bunch. This group includes green oak leaf, red oak leaf, valeria and lolla-rosa-types.

    Romaine-lettuce grows in a long head of sturdy leaves with a firm rib almost reaching to the tip of the leaf. Cultivars of Romaine are also the most popular types in the USA.

    Summer Crisp variety forms moderately dense heads with a crunchy texture; this type is intermediate between crisp-head and loose-leaf types.

Few recipes using lettuce from my blog

THAI  EGG  SALAD

TANGY LETTUCE SALAD

Beetroot Patties - Tikki - cutlet 

CHICKEN BURGER|HOMEMADE NON VEG-VEG BURGER|MAC ALOO TIKKI BURGER

Broccoli, Lettuce, Sprouts and Green Peas Salad

Lettuce salad

Lettuce raita

Egg sandwich - Egg burger

Health benefits of Lettuce

•     Lettuce leaves are one of the very low calorie green-vegetables. 100 g fresh greens provide just 15 calories. Nonetheless, they are the store house of many phyto-nutrients that have health promoting and disease prevention properties.
•     Vitamins in lettuce are plentiful. Fresh leaves are an excellent source of several Vitamin A and beta carotenes. 
• Just 100 g of fresh, raw-lettuce provides 247% of daily vitamin A, and 4443 µg of beta-carotene (Carotenes convert to vitamin A in the body; 2 µg of carotene is considered equivalent to 1 IU of vitamin A). These compounds have antioxidant properties. Vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin, and is also essential for vision. Consumption of natural fruits and vegetables rich in flavonoids helps to protect the body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
•     It is a rich source of vitamin K. Vitamin K has a potential role in the bone metabolism where it thought to increase bone mass by promoting osteotrophic activity in the bone cells. It also has established role in Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in the brain.
•     Fresh leaves contain good amounts folates and vitamin C. Folates require for DNA synthesis and therefore, vital in prevention of the neural tube defects in-utero fetus during pregnancy. Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant; regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
•     Zea-xanthin (1730 µg per 100 g), an important dietary carotenoid in lettuce, is selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea, where it thought to provide antioxidant and filter UV rays falling on the retina. Diet rich in xanthin and carotenes is thought to offer some protection against age-related macular disease (ARMD) in the elderly.
•     It also contains good amounts of minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, which are very essential for body metabolism. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells. Iron is essential for red blood cell formation.
•     It is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like thiamin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), riboflavins.
• Regular inclusion of lettuce in salads is known to prevent osteoporosis, iron-deficiency anemia and believed to protect from cardiovascular diseases, ARMD, Alzheimer's disease and cancers.