Lettuce-Nutrion packed or empty?

[Magelet]

I'm not talking about iceburg, obviously that is nutrionless.

I'm talking about green leaf, romain, butter, take your pick.

I always hear on here of adding romain to juice or smoothies for nutrients. I was talking with someone today and she was saying that lettuce (even romaine) really doesn't have much in it. I've always FELT like lettuce was pretty empty, mostly water.

So what's in it? Is it nutrient packed, or fairly empty?

[Rosehip]

Have a look here for romaine. It may not be a nutritional powerhouse, but one cup has 1 g fiber, and for daily allowances - 82% vit A, 19% of C, 60% of K, 16% of folate, and it goes on. Could do worse. I like it for filler/bulk/texture in my chopped salads.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/v...roducts/2475/2

Butter lettuce:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/v...roducts/2474/2

[mamadelbosque]

Its certainly not nutrient packed, but its much better than some other stuff... and honestly, I think of it has 'filler' to keep me from eating so many other calories - if I eat a big salad, I'll be pretty much full without having packed in 2000 calories like I might have if I was eating something else.

[tanyalynn]

It depends on how much you eat, and how well you digest it. In terms of calories--quite a few nutrients per calorie, but then we tend to get a full before eating a whole lot because it's bulky and fibrous. At a guess, I'd say more nutrients per calorie than most fruits--I haven't compared on nutritiondata.com (great site, love it!) but probably more nutrients overall, and a different balance.

And our (my family, I mean) digestion isn't great, so we're not eating any raw vegetables anyway--and maybe I'm just not adventurous enough, but cooked lettuce just sounds bad.

[JessicaS]

I wouldn't add romaine to a smoothie, it is so mild and crunchy it is great as it is.

If I am adding things to smoothies I go for nutritionally dense, very dark greens that I don't actually like such as kale I do love spinach and I stick it in smoothies but I find them to be a good way to get greens in me that I am not overly fond of.

[caiesmommy]

We're not big on "plain" lettuces(iceberg/romaine). We do a speckled garden mix. But to buy lettuce we normally go for spinach or a mix of dark greens. Romaine is a "its on sale and were tight money" lettuce.. mostly b/c we like the taste of spinach more and it's so very goodfor you

[Drummer's Wife]

We use baby spinach leaves for everything - salad, smoothies, added to food like scrambled eggs, sandwiches/burgers, etc.

Spinach is definitely healthy for you - and my family is used to it so it so it's what we all prefer.

[lil_earthmomma]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

We use baby spinach leaves for everything - salad, smoothies, added to food like scrambled eggs, sandwiches/burgers, etc.

Spinach is definitely healthy for you - and my family is used to it so it so it's what we all prefer.

Baby spinach makes it's way into almost every meal at our house!

I like baby romaine and romaine and spinach in my cesear salad. I like romaine for a bit of crunch, but I wouldn't stick it in a smoothie thinking I'm packing myself full of nutrients.

[tanyalynn]

So now I had to look it up... I love nutritiondata.com.

I don't see a lot of other leafy green stuff that's better for folate, and that's usually why I see people wanting to stick it in smoothies. It's flavor is on the milder end, and you can seriously get a lot of folate per calorie with it, spinach looks to be a little less, but very close--so maybe it depends exactly what you're looking for, and what flavor you enjoy most, but it seems a reasonable choice.

[Sol_y_Paz]

I consider it very healthy.

[academama]

I guess my feeling on it is that, even if it doesn't have tons and tons of nutrients, it's still giving you a lot of nutrients for the calories. Bulk, fiber, water--all good stuff even if there aren't a lot of vitamins in it.

[madskye]

It's all about the fiber! And the concept of eating something basically benign and low cal, low fat, low cholesterol, like romaine--but filling when combined with other things like a protein.

I can't get into the whole green smoothie thing though!!!!!!

[Magelet]

the folate is good, however for the most part, to me, this just reenforces the idea of it being essentially empty. Fiber, and bulk, and water, with medium nutrients, to me it's just not a healthy food. I think that because of depleated soil and just general health, almost every bite you take should be filled with nutrients of some kind. It sounds like lettuce is fairly empty.

low cal, low fat, low cholesterol

the opposite of my idea of healthy.

I think unless I'm needing the folate, I'll continue what I'm doing, eating salads for the pleasure of it, but loading them with other stuff for the nutrients.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by Magelet

the folate is good, however for the most part, to me, this just reenforces the idea of it being essentially empty. Fiber, and bulk, and water, with medium nutrients, to me it's just not a healthy food. I think that because of depleated soil and just general health, almost every bite you take should be filled with nutrients of some kind. It sounds like lettuce is fairly empty.

the opposite of my idea of healthy.

I think unless I'm needing the folate, I'll continue what I'm doing, eating salads for the pleasure of it, but loading them with other stuff for the nutrients.

I used to think that romane was not that great nutrition wise but we have now switched to adding it back into out diets and especially our smoothies as whfoods.com (george) has convinced me that it is very nutrient dense. I will go pull that up...

Still we have lots of other greens too.

[Koalamom]

Romaine has no oxalates (for those with oxalate issues) and is full of enzymes.

[Koalamom]

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by Magelet

the folate is good, however for the most part, to me, this just reenforces the idea of it being essentially empty. Fiber, and bulk, and water, with medium nutrients, to me it's just not a healthy food. I think that because of depleated soil and just general health, almost every bite you take should be filled with nutrients of some kind. It sounds like lettuce is fairly empty.

the opposite of my idea of healthy.

I think unless I'm needing the folate, I'll continue what I'm doing, eating salads for the pleasure of it, but loading them with other stuff for the nutrients.

When you're in your childbearing years, you DO need folate.

[Magelet]

I know folate is very important. I meant the other stuff reenforcing it being fairly empty. There are a lot of other foods though that have a lot more nutrition, that also have more folate. (like beans, broccoli, spinach).
I was saying that if I was specifically trying to increase folate in my diet I might turn to romaine, but I don't like filling up on stuff that is only moderately nutritious.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by Magelet

I know folate is very important. I meant the other stuff reenforcing it being fairly empty. There are a lot of other foods though that have a lot more nutrition, that also have more folate. (like beans, broccoli, spinach).
I was saying that if I was specifically trying to increase folate in my diet I might turn to romaine, but I don't like filling up on stuff that is only moderately nutritious.

I understand FTR, I don't care for lettuce, but eat it anywya for fiber and as a filler (I am trying to lose weight ).

[hildare]

personally, i think that there may be properties in lettuce that aren't necessarily monitored/listed-- and these can vary depending on the location where they were grown.
especially if it's local lettuce. I can tell an energy difference after I've eaten some, so there has to be something more to it. humans have cultivated it for so very long...
USRDA isn't the end-all be-all of dietary planning, in my opinion..