Lettuce

Crispy, green/crimson-red colored lettuce is one of the incredible leafy vegetables packed with essential nutrients that benefitahealth. Indeed, it is among the most sought-after greens, be it in your crunchy, green salads or healthy sandwiches! its leaves exude milk like fluid (sap) when cut, and hence their name derived from latin, lactuca for milk. Botanically this marvelous, nutrition rich leafy green belongs to the daisy family of asteraceae.

Lactuca sativa is a small size annual plant that flourishes well under sandy, humus soil. There are about six varieties of cultivars exist based upon their head formation and leaf structure. Leaf varieties with more bitter taste are rather rich in nutrients as well as antioxidants.

As an article of diet, lettuce is extensively cultivated in the kitchen garden. The botanical name, lactuca, from lac, milk, is given on account of the milky juice which exudes from the plant when cut, this milky juice turns brown, and dries on exposure to the air, and is then called lactucarium, or lettuce-opium.

It is narcotic, but less powerfully so than opium, and it does not confine the bowels as that gum is apt to do. It is recommended in phthisis and catarrh. It is given to ease coughs, and to procure sleep; the dose is from 1 to 6 grains.the juice mixed with oil of roses promotes sleep, and relieves headache. It is gently aperient, and aids digestion. It is also a good application for inflamed parts.

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, preferred in stir-fries and stews.

Crisp-head variety forms tight, dense heads that resemble cabbage. They are generally the mildest form and 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 flavorful leaves with a loose bunch. This group includes green oak leaf, red oak leaf, valeria and lolla-rosa-types.

Romaine-lettuce grows to 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 employed 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.

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. Its 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 ag of beta-carotene (carotenes convert into vitamin a in the body; 2 ag 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 inside 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 are part of co-factors in the enzyme metabolism required for dna synthesis and therefore, play a vital role in prevention of the neural tube defects in the baby (fetus) during pregnancy.a

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 ag 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.