10 Surpising Nutritional Facts about Romaine Lettuce!

MadeOfMagic

I used to never eat salads because I only like romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, meat and dressing in my salads; plus all the dressing had way to many calories especially I like LOTS of dressing. I recently starting eating salads because I found amazing healthy low cal dressing from my bfs work, but I thought the only nutrition I was getting from my salad was everything except romaine lettuce! People used to always say that romaine and iceberg lettuce didnt have much nutrition because of so little calories-people called them empty calories, I would avoid it based on that belief. Well below facts have changed my views on romaine lettuce,

10 SURPRISING NUTRITIONAL FACTS ABOUT ROMAINE LETTUCE
RDA=Recommended Daily Allowance

1 – Protein. Believe it or not, romaine lettuce is 17% protein with 7.7 grams per head. It is also a complete protein! That means that it has all 8 essential amino acids, 9% RDA of some and up to 26% RDA of others.

2 – Calcium. One head of romaine has 206mg of calcium (about 21% RDA). Blend it with calcium rich fruits like papaya and oranges and you’ll get more calcium than a glass of milk!

3 – Omega-3s. One head of romaine lettuce contains 44% RDA of Omega-3 essential fats. Forget the tainted fish oils, reach for some leafy greens instead!

4 – More Vitamin C Than An Orange. One head of romaine contains 167% RDA of vitamin C while an average sized orange contains only 92%.

5 – Iron. One head of romaine contains 6mg of iron, which ads a significant source of iron to the diets of vegetarians and vegans.

6 – Romaine Lettuce is Rich in B-vitamins: Thiamine (B1) – 38% RDA, Riboflavin (B2) – 32% RDA, Niacin (B3) – 12% RDA, Pantothenic Acid (B5) – 18%, Pyridoxine (B6) – 36 %, Folate (B9) – 213%!

7 – Water. One head of romaine provides 16% of your daily water needs with about 20 ounces of water per head!

8 – Rich Source of vitamin A (as beta-carotene) and K. As with most leafy greens, romaine is super rich in beta-carotene with 1817% RDA per head and has 535% RDA of vitamin K.

9 – Low Levels of Oxalic Acid. If you have problems with calcium oxalate kidney stones, romaine lettuce might be a good choice for leafy greens since it is very low in this anti-nutrient.

10 – Mineral-Rich. Don’t let the lighter color of romaine lettuce fool you. This not-so-dark leafy green is rich in minerals. One head contains copper (33% RDA), magnesium (22% RDA), manganese (42% RDA), phosphorus (27% RDA), potassium (33%), selenium (5% RDA) and zinc (13% RDA).

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/nutrition/10-surprising-nutrition-facts-about-romaine-lettuce/

MadeOfMagic

Sorry for any misspellings!

Gallowmere1984

It's not really surprising at all. In fact, it's been known for some time that Romaine is far superior to Iceberg, which would explain the price difference.

MadeOfMagic

I was not comparing the two, I just did not know romaine lettuce was so awesome and had all this stuff, ice berg lettuce actually has lots of good stuff too, but much much less of course-the greener the healthier. I just never thought lettuce of all things would be this healthy!

1stday13

I used to never eat salads because I only like romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, meat and dressing in my salads; plus all the dressing had way to many calories especially I like LOTS of dressing. I recently starting eating salads because I found amazing healthy low cal dressing from my bfs work, but I thought the only nutrition I was getting from my salad was everything except romaine lettuce! People used to always say that romaine and iceberg lettuce didnt have much nutrition because of so little calories-people called them empty calories, I would avoid it based on that belief. Well below facts have changed my views on romaine lettuce,

10 SURPRISING NUTRITIONAL FACTS ABOUT ROMAINE LETTUCE
RDA=Recommended Daily Allowance

1 – Protein. Believe it or not, romaine lettuce is 17% protein with 7.7 grams per head. It is also a complete protein! That means that it has all 8 essential amino acids, 9% RDA of some and up to 26% RDA of others.

2 – Calcium. One head of romaine has 206mg of calcium (about 21% RDA). Blend it with calcium rich fruits like papaya and oranges and you’ll get more calcium than a glass of milk!

3 – Omega-3s. One head of romaine lettuce contains 44% RDA of Omega-3 essential fats. Forget the tainted fish oils, reach for some leafy greens instead!

4 – More Vitamin C Than An Orange. One head of romaine contains 167% RDA of vitamin C while an average sized orange contains only 92%.

5 – Iron. One head of romaine contains 6mg of iron, which ads a significant source of iron to the diets of vegetarians and vegans.

6 – Romaine Lettuce is Rich in B-vitamins: Thiamine (B1) – 38% RDA, Riboflavin (B2) – 32% RDA, Niacin (B3) – 12% RDA, Pantothenic Acid (B5) – 18%, Pyridoxine (B6) – 36 %, Folate (B9) – 213%!

7 – Water. One head of romaine provides 16% of your daily water needs with about 20 ounces of water per head!

8 – Rich Source of vitamin A (as beta-carotene) and K. As with most leafy greens, romaine is super rich in beta-carotene with 1817% RDA per head and has 535% RDA of vitamin K.

9 – Low Levels of Oxalic Acid. If you have problems with calcium oxalate kidney stones, romaine lettuce might be a good choice for leafy greens since it is very low in this anti-nutrient.

10 – Mineral-Rich. Don’t let the lighter color of romaine lettuce fool you. This not-so-dark leafy green is rich in minerals. One head contains copper (33% RDA), magnesium (22% RDA), manganese (42% RDA), phosphorus (27% RDA), potassium (33%), selenium (5% RDA) and zinc (13% RDA).

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/nutrition/10-surprising-nutrition-facts-about-romaine-lettuce/

Thank You for sharing that :flowerforyou: I gave up iceberg years ago for Romaine, I heard it had more nutrients, plus I think A lot more flavor. I did not know however, just how much :noway: Great information :happy:

Gallowmere1984

I was not comparing the two, I just did not know romaine lettuce was so awesome and had all this stuff, ice berg lettuce actually has lots of good stuff too, but much much less of course-the greener the healthier. I just never thought lettuce of all things would be this healthy!

I got ya'. My post was more of a 'woohooo useless information' post.

It is pretty interesting how many nutrients are in there, when you consider how little food energy is actually in lettuce in general.

Nanadena

I wonder if I could grow this in my garden this summer

MadeOfMagic

Same here, I gave up iceberg and now only get romaine, it sure does taste way better! I have salads every night now, I never realized how many amazing nutrients it had! I feel prouder to eat it now, lol

emilyc85

This is great! I had no idea and this is a good reason to switch! Thank you

ckish

Lettuce is very easy to grow and I was surprised at how much better it tastes too.

simplysassi

I love Romaine lettuce. I like to add it to my spring mix - half and half. It adds a nice crunch and tastes wonderful.

MadeOfMagic

Lettuce is very easy to grow and I was surprised at how much better it tastes too.

One day when I have a house I am going to plant some!

susan_skipper

Romaine lettuce is easy to grow and I have grown it quite a few times. The thing to remember is when it get to be a nice shape and size, tie it up (not too tight) with string around the middle. That makes it keep its tight shape. I think it protects the heart of it as well and then you can leave them in the garden a little longer while you eat them one by one.
Thanks for posting the nutritional info about them. I knew about the iron and minerals but didnt know about the other things. I love Romaine lettuce, with a little sprinkle of "Mrs Dash" spice on it and some flaked tuna. Cant stand caeser salads with the dressing though.

ldrosophila

This is the only green thing I can get my boyfriend to eat. I love romaine. Hope theres not bad frost like there was the other year.

Hbazzell

cool! Thanks for posting. I love romaine

cjsacto

I love romaine but I doubted this was accurate - looked it up and you're right! I had some yesterday and I noticed a smaller portion still had a couple grams of protein, but I didn't realize all the other benefits. I am always looking for good sources of potassium in particular, I never get to the 3500g recommended amount - the source I checked said that one head of romaine (626g) actually has 44% of the RDA.

Of course, I generally don't eat a whole head of lettuce in one day. I'll have to see how much you have to eat for 626g.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2475/2

I make myself eat more spinach than I like, but now I can have more romaine. (Of course spinach is still awesome for you, but not as tasty in salads.) Hmmm, I'll have to compare it to kale.

Firefox7275

17% protein by what measure, calorie count? Romaine is 1% protein by weight. Few people eat a whole 600g head that is a very misleading serving size, if you look at the per 100g it's pretty low in all minerals and very low in omega-3 (short chain anyway not the useable long chain format). If you ate 600g of almost any wholefood you'd get a pile of nutrients. Certainly better than iceberg, but I'd still opt for baby spinach, 'anti nutrients' and all.

MadeOfMagic

17% protein by what measure, calorie count? Romaine is 1% protein by weight. Few people eat a whole 600g head that is a very misleading serving size, if you look at the per 100g it's pretty low in all minerals and very low in omega-3 (short chain anyway not the useable long chain format). If you ate 600g of almost any wholefood you'd get a pile of nutrients. Certainly better than iceberg, but I'd still opt for baby spinach, 'anti nutrients' and all.

Per 100g it has 247mg of potassium, that is about 1/9th serving of romaine lettuce head-an average lettuce head is a pound and 7oz, I eat 1 1/2 of the romaine lettuce heads when I make my salad, so that is about 2200mg of potassium, over a 2/3 of what my body needs. It's hard for me to get all my potassium, but I get most of my daily needs from my salad. I got superb cilantro lime dressing that is about 200cals for 1/2 cup, and it's made of all fresh ingredients, so I make huge salads with barely any dent of my calories and get ton of nutrition from it. I hate spinach, I try to eat brocolli and other veggies but I can't stand most leafy greens so this is by far best option for me.

cmriverside

I love romaine and eat it every day. Spinach doesn't really absorb well raw, it's much better nutritionally when lightly steamed or sautéed.

ze_hombre

Not surprising. I used to have an iguana and that is basically all they ate. I would give them bananas and zucchini occasionally as treats, but their primary source of food was romaine.

NewLIFEstyle4ME

I didn't have a CLUE, I just had some yesterday and will be SURE to start adding some to my veggie juices--THANK YOU!!!!:drinker: :flowerforyou: :drinker: