Dozens of different varieties of lettuce are available for those who want to add some leafy green roughage to their nutritional plate. Diets of all kinds look to lettuce to provide this low-calorie staple available throughout the year. The nutrients and amounts available depend on the specific type of lettuce. When choosing a type of lettuce, be aware that the darker the outer leaves, the more nutritious the vegetable will be.
Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg lettuce is the standard garden salad variety that features crisp, tightly packed leaves. Iceberg is not just one of the least nutritionally rich lettuces; it is one of the least nutritious of all salad greens. The 2 mg of vitamin C found in a cup of shredded iceberg lettuce are lower than that of looseleaf, Boston and romaine lettuce. Iceberg lettuce's 102 mg of potassium and .3 mg of iron are also lower than what's found in other lettuces, but iceberg does benefit from a substantial 20.9 mcg of folate. Folate is helpful for pregnant women in preventing neural tube defects and can assist everyone else by boosting the immune system.
Looseleaf Lettuce
Looseleaf lettuce features both red and green leaves. Adding this type of lettuce to your diet will help increase the resistance levels of your immune system due to high concentrations of vitamins A, C and folate and lower levels of iron. Those levels are, respectively, 106.0 retinol equivalent (RE), 10.1 mg, 27.9 mcg and .8 mg. The amount of vitamin A found in looseleaf lettuce rises according to the darkness of the leaves, while discoloration in the leaves means a reduction in all its nutrients.
Butterhead Lettuce
The .6 g of dietary fiber present in butterhead lettuce is less than in other types, but you still get the benefit of only 7 calories, 3 mg and no fat in a cup of shredded leaves. Butterhead has only 40.1 mcg of folate, which is less than iceberg lettuce and romaine lettuce but still offers almost a fifth of the recommended daily ingestion of folate in just a single cup serving. Butterhead lettuce may be sold under the names bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce.
Romaine Lettuce
According to the vegonline website, romaine offers the most nutritional value of any type of lettuce. Romaine offers 64 mcg of folate or roughly equal the amount that is found in iceberg lettuce, but it also provides 11.3 mg of vitamin C, which is more than twice the amount in iceberg. Romaine lettuce also supplies you with 4094 international units (IU) of vitamin A, which is more than all the other lettuces. The health benefits of all these nutrients include fighting off fatigue, depression, confusion and infections, according to “Prevention Magazine’s Nutrition Advisor.” Romaine has a very hefty 1637 mcg of beta carotene that can reduce the risks of developing lung or colon cancer.
References
- Symptomfind: Iceberg Lettuce Nutrition
- Vegoline: Lettuce Nutrition Facts
- "Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal"; Thereas Lane, Ed.; 1997
- "Prevention Magazine's Nutrition Advisor"; Mark Bricklin, Ed.; 1993
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