Let us talk about Lettuce
By: Curt Griffing
The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that most Americans eat about 33 pounds of lettuce per person each year. If you break this down on a daily basis it comes out to .09 ounces of lettuce each day. An insect in my garden eats much more than that, I’ve seen it.
Many lettuces are a good source of nutrition most notably vitamin A, K and C along with some minerals like iron and calcium which are mostly found in the darker green lettuces like romaine, green leaf, red leaf and butterhead to mention a few.
If most Americans eat on average only .09 ounces of lettuce each day, it’s scary to think but stands to reason that most Americans will fall well below other vegetable intakes which in turn falls below what the body needs for optimum nutrition, negatively affecting their health. It's no wonder why most Americans succumb in some way to sickness and disease. It’s rare to find an American who eats the standard American fare that isn’t or hasn’t taken a drug for something that’s ailing them over the years.
Conversely, one who eats a raw or mostly raw plant based diet will consume on average 350 to 500 pounds of lettuce each year. That’s 10 to 15 times more than the amount of greens that the U.S. Department of Agriculture says most Americans eat each year.
Another important factor of the lettuce family like romaine is that they contain Saponins which are phytochemicals found in leafy green vegetables. The Saponins have many health benefits including lowering cholesterol by removing the LDL from your intestines making it difficult for cholesterol to be absorbed into your bloodstream and depositing throughout your body. Saponins will also improve your immune systems health and can decrease your risk of of contracting a parasitic infection due to it’s special antioxidant property.
As for myself, I eat on average between one and two pounds of lettuce each day, and that’s just lettuce! That’s between 365 to 730 pound each year. A far cry from the 33 pounds a year that the USDA says most Americans eat. Not to mention the abundance of other vegetable and fruit I eat on a daily basis. There’s a lot of nourishment there. This is why I have avoided the flu for almost 40 years and had no need for any medication for just as long.
The great thing about the light leafy lettuces is that they chew down easy taking less stomach space and combine well with everything, fruit, nuts, seeds and fats. I often lightly blend fruit and pour it over a good size bed of chopped lettuces or baby lettuces. This is one of my favorite meals and will vary in flavor depending on my choices and season with fruit.
So remember, these Greens are Great so Greet them with a Grin.
Let the hearts of romaine remain in your heart.