Lettuce is an annual plant of the aster or sunflower family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce was first cultivated by the ancient Egyptians who turned it from a weed, whose seeds were used to produce oil, into a plant grown for its leaves.
iceberg lettuce has been left out of the salad bowl having been deemed of having no nutritional value. Iceberg gets passed by for other more power-packed greens such as
Romaine lettuce,
spinach, red leaf lettuce and the like. Many people, however, prefer the crispness of iceberg, which until the 1930s was called crisphead lettuce, to other lettuce choices. The crispness of iceberg is unique. No other lettuce has the same cool, enjoyable crunch.
One cup of iceberg lettuce contains: 10 calories, 0 grams of fat, 1 gram protein, 2 grams carbs (1 of dietary fiber), 7 percent of vitamin A, 3 percent of vitamin C, 1 percent of calcium and 2 percent of iron. It also contains trace amounts of potassium, folate, vitamin K, magnesium and phosphorus. Iceberg is cholesterol free and low in sodium. Granted, it isn’t the most nutrient packed vegetable but if it is the only lettuce your child will eat, serve it up.
It is true that darker greens contain more nutrients. Iceberg can be an acceptable choice combined with a variety of other greens to make a delicious salad. Mixing greens is a great way to keep crispiness and nutritional value. Leaf lettuce can be somewhat bitter if it is left too long growing in the ground, and sometimes when it is harvested in a timely manner it can still retain some of its bitterness. By combining leaf lettuce with iceberg, the bitterness can be reduced while maintaining other beneficial nutrients.
If nothing else, iceberg lettuce is 96 percent water so to those of you that don’t drink enough fluids each day, munch on a chunk of iceberg!
Iceberg Lettuce is very low in calorie. It has only one 11 calories per one cup. It is also very much low in fat percentage with a high profile proteins and nutrients that is helpful when you try to lose some weight. So daily consuming of iceberg lettuce is helpful for weight loss treatment. For best results take this lettuce with your salad in your breakfast.
It prevents you from many heart diseases. Moderate amount of potassium is present in this lettuce. This protects your heart by checking blood pressure and heart rate. There are more nutritional benefits of iceberg lettuce like the essential nutrients that harden arteries and the dietary fiber content maintains the blood flow rate to the heart keeping your heart healthy.
This green leafy vegetable contains dietary fiber along with Omega fatty acids that strengthens your health. So these nutrients give sufficient energy to maintain your health with proper functioning. So eating of these types of vegetables promotes good health.
It has great immune capability with the help of mineral contents like manganese, magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus and calcium. Presence of these mineral compounds decreases the harmful free radicals that improves the immune system inside the body and protects from viral infections and related diseases also.
Iceberg Lettuce nutritional benefits also helps in protecting the body from indigestive agents. It breaks down heavy protein and carbohydrates and gives proper functioning stomach. So it regulates bowel movements for which constipation and acid reflux can be cured.
It gives proper nourishment to the cells of the body. This is because the nutrition facts of iceberg lettuce are helpful for the fluidic maintenance of the cells. Potassium is one of the important constituent of the cell body fluids, thus it regulates fluidic motion of the cells. The protein content is also nourishes the cells.
It also helps in giving you a sound sleep. It relaxes eyes and body also. That is why it can cure Insomnia which is a sleeping disorder.
Iceberg Lettuce’s nutrition facts also includes lot of vitamin contents like vitamin A as 9 percent, vitamin C as 4 percent, and other additional vitamins as 2 percent of your daily requirement basis. Other vitamin contents include thiamine and vitamin B6.
The nutritional benefits of iceberg lettuce are more beneficial for women as it also contains folate which is helpful during pregnancy. It reduces risk of neural tube effects of the pregnant women. Its vitamin A content also protects eye.
It is enriched with iron content that has many beneficial properties towards health. Firstly it is required for the formation of red blood cells. Secondly it is for the transportation of oxygen to different parts of the body where it is needed. So the nutritional benefits of iceberg lettuce helps to prevent anemia.
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