Cabbage and lettuce differ in their nutritional content, composition and taste. Though they are both considered to be leafy green vegetables, cabbage is generally eaten cooked while lettuce is often left uncooked atop a sandwich or in a salad. Cabbage has a slightly thicker leaf, often with a purple tinge. Lettuce is thinner and more chewable. Both contain many vitamins and minerals with little calories and fat.
Macronutrients in Lettuce
Lettuce is fairly low in calories, fat, protein and carbs. In one cup of lettuce there are 34 calories. There is just .14 g of fat per cup and .58 g of protein per cup. One cup of lettuce contains only 1.55 g of carbs with 1 g from fiber.
Maronutrients in Cabbage
In one cup of cabbage you will consume just 18 calories. Cabbage contains .07 g of unsaturated fat in each cup. Cabbage contains slightly more protein than lettuce with .9 g per cup. Cabbage also contains more fiber. One cup of cabbage has 4 g of carbs with nearly 2 g of fiber.
Vitamins
Both lettuce and cabbage are packed with vitamins. Cabbage contains vitmains C, E, B-6 and K, folate, lutein, beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin and thiamine. It is especially abundant in vitamin K, providing 53.2 mcg per cup. An adult needs 90 mcg per day of vitamin K.
Lettuce contains the vitamins C, E, B-6 and K, folate, beta carotene, lutein, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid. Lettuce provides 64 mcg of folate per cup. This is important for women of child-bearing age, who are recommended to take in 400 mcg per day. One cup of lettuce also has 2,456 mcg of beta carotene, the precursor to vitamin A. This is important, because it takes 12 mcg of beta carotene to make just 1 mcg of vitamin A.
Minerals
Lettuce and cabbage are both rich in essential minerals, in similar amounts. Cabbage contains the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride and selenium. Lettuce has calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium.
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