Lettuce juice is one of the most popular in the world of green juicing. And for good reason – apart from the fact that lettuce is one of the most common leafy greens – lettuce’s popularity comes mostly from its ready availability and its less-than-intimidating taste. This leafy green is pretty much…tasteless. Especially compared to the likes of arugula (find juice recipes for aragula here) or dandelion greens.
Plus, no matter how much you’ve avoided greens in your life, you’ve definitely tasted lettuce before. Whereas the same can’t be said for more obscure greens like collards and chard. So there’s a familiarity factor to lettuce.
Nutrition-wise, lettuce pales a bit compared to most of the super nutritionally-dense leafy greens. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out – it’s availability and easy taste makes it the ideal starter green. Plus, it’s ridiculously low in calories and has some pretty unique health perks, like…
7 Lettuce Juice Benefits to Love
Here’s a fun fact for you while you check out these health perks of drinking lettuce juice – do you know who first introduced lettuce to North America? The very same person who discovered it in 1492, Christopher Columbus.
So you can thank him for bringing us this great green juicing ingredient!
Relieves constipation
Because it is rich in cellulose and both insoluble and soluble fiber, lettuce facilitates the accumulation of intestinal content into a bulk that can then easily be moved out of the digestive system through peristalsis and be evacuated as feces. In plain English – lettuce helps keep you regular.
By the way, you get soluble fiber with juicing but not the insoluble fiber so go ahead and juice and blend lettuce – it makes a delicious green to add to green smoothies!
Good for your blood
This leafy green is a pretty good source of iron which is good for the hemoglobin. The iron supply coming from this vegetable is much easily absorbed when compared to inorganic iron sold in drug stores.
The alkalinity of the blood is also properly balanced, thanks to the rich supply of minerals like potassium, magnesium and calcium. This allows for clearer thinking, greater energy and more restful sleep.
Rich source of vitamins
Yes, lettuce is the least nutrionally-dense of the leafy greens, but that’s not really saying much considering most leafy greens are hugely, richly chock full of vitamins.
Lettuce might pale in comparison to the likes of nutritional powerhouses like kale, but lettuce is still a great source of vitamins. The leaves of lettuce are a rich source of vitamin A, K and C.
Just 100 grams of raw lettuce can provide the body with 148% of daily recommended vitamin A and 217% of vitamin K. Aside from being a powerful antioxidant, vitamin A is essential for a good vision. It is also involved in the maintenance of the mucus membrane.
Vitamin K is known to play an important role in bone metabolism. It facilitates osteotrophic activity in the bone cells and that results in an increase in bone mass. Research has also established that vitamin K can limit neural damage in people suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease.
Vitamin C is another powerful antioxidant that assists the body in defending itself against infectious agents. It is also known to protect the body from free radicals, slowing down aging. Vitamin C can also work together with beta-carotene to prevent cholesterol oxidation which can potentially increase the build up of plaque. This is excellent news for the heart.
Note: For the highest nutritional value, you should preferably consume romaine lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has the lowest nutritional value. The former has 8 times more vitamin C, 4 times more iron, 3 times more vitamin K and 2 times more calcium.
Extremely low in calories
Trying to lose weight? Consume lettuce – this leafy green offers amazing nutritional bang for your caloric buck. Lettuce is one of the lowest calorie foods in the world – one cup of lettuce is only 8 calories while giving you a ton of vitamin A, K, C, folate as well as minerals like manganese, iron and potassium.
Promotes healthy pregnancy
You know that one cup of lettuce that’s only 8 calories? Well, it also provides around 15% of your daily value of folate, which is a crucial vitamin that’s been shown to promote a safe pregnancy and to help prevent several birth defects.
Helps you sleep
The leaves of this crunchy vegetable contain a milky fluid referred to as lactucarium. Some call it the “lettuce opium” because it has sedative and analgesic properties, except it does not come with the strong side effects that characterize opium.
So next time you need a good night’s sleep, try adding a bit of lettuce to your juice recipes!
Boosts your libido…?
Here’s a fun fact: The ancient Egyptians saw lettuce as an aphrodisiac and as symbol of sexual prowess. This leafy greens was associated with Min, the Egyptian god of fertility, and was believed to help the god “perform the sexual act untiringly.”
But the reason is more about aesthetics than the actual libido-enhancing benefits of lettuce – as in, lettuce grows straight and tall, giving it a phallic resemblance. Plus, if you break off a lettuce leaf, especially at the stem, it oozes that milky fluid called lactucarium, which can resemble semen.
That being said, lettuce is packing a good range of vitamins and mineral that can help boost performance in the sack by improving overall health and vitality so no harm in juicing lettuce for, ahem, bedroom activities.
3 Lovely Lettuce Juice Recipes
Ready to get making some delicious lettuce juice recipes? Here are a few great ones!
Carrot Lettuce Juice
Here’s a super simple, delicious juice recipe:
- 2 carrots
- 2 cups lettuce
For an easy, 2-ingredient juice recipe, it’s packing a lot of nutrition in the form of eye health-boosting vitamin A and immunity-protecting vitamin C. The perfect immune-boosting juice recipe to drink when you’re short on time.
Lettuce Be Healthy
Here’s a simple, delicious lettuce juice recipe that you’ll be making again and again:
- 2 apples
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 cucumber
- 2 cups lettuce
- 1 orange (peeled)
Who knew these ingredients would play so well together? Well, they do – and they add up to a lot of goodness, with vitamin C-rich orange, mineral-rich cucumber and celery, and phytonutrient-rich apples all doing their part.
Kale Spinach Lettuce Apple Green Juice
Here’s a serious green juice that’s heavy on benefits and light on taste:
- 2 medium stalks celery
- 4 romaine heart leaves or 2 outer leaves
- 2 kale leaves
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 medium green apple
- ½ medium cucumber
- ½ lemon, rind and pith removed
- 1 slice ginger, the size of a quarter
It’s packing a whole lot of goodness but thanks to the fact that the majority of the greens used in this juice recipe are “lighter” greens like romaine lettuce and spinach, this juice doesn’t come on strong at all. Plus, both celery and cucumber help water it down a lot and the apples give it a welcome sweetness. Overall, a great green juice for any time of day!
