Answer: As Lettuce does not contain any carbs, it is a great Keto food and makes for a good snack.
About Lettuce
Most vegetables are low in carbohydrates. (Excluding root vegetables containing starch such as potatoes). Vegetables and salad have a lot of vitamins and fibre – ideal for a keto dieter who wants to live healthy. These are also particularly low in carbohydrates:
| Ketogenic vegetables and lettuce |
|---|
| Artichokes |
| Spinach leaves |
| Celery |
| cauliflower |
| Broccoli |
| Watercress |
| Chinese cabbage |
| Iceberg lettuce |
| Endive |
| Lamb’s lettuce |
| gherkins |
| Kale |
| Cucumber |
| Celery root |
| Lettuce |
| Cress |
| Parsnip |
| Radicchio |
| Radish |
| Romano salad |
| Red cabbage canned |
| Sorrel |
| Sauerkraut |
| Sauerkraut preserve |
| Chives |
| Salsify |
| Celery salad, canned acid |
| Soy (tofu, soy milk, etc) |
| Asparagus |
| Spinach |
| Wine sauerkraut |
| Savoy cabbage |
| Zucchini |
PS: You wonder where the tomatoes and carrots from the photo above are in the list? No, we have not forgotten them. Carrots and tomatoes are actually not very suitable for keto in the beginning. That doesn’t mean you can never eat them again. It just means you should avoid them if you want to get into ketosis. If you want to stay in ketosis, you should only eat small amounts of carrot or tomato later.
Nutrients: Lettuce versus carrots and Co
Salad consists of 95 percent water. In terms of its ingredients, lettuce therefore actually performs worse than other vegetables. For example, it has less provitamin A – a precursor of vitamin A – and vitamin C than tomatoes or carrots. However, lettuce contains more folic acid than other vegetables. This is a vitamin that prevents malformations in babies, for example. In addition, the secondary plant substances in lettuce are believed to prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and some types of cancer.
However, the nutrient content of lettuce varies from variety to variety. Chicory, endive and radicchio in particular are considered rich in vitamins and minerals.
When is lettuce healthy?
How healthy a lettuce is depends on the time of harvest. If you want to eat salad, you should always choose the variety of the season. In spring the time of Batavia and green salads begins. Lettuce from outdoor cultivation is available from the beginning of May to November.
In winter, however, lettuce has neither taste nor vitamins. In the cold season, the classic winter varieties such as lamb’s lettuce, chicory or radicchio should therefore be served. Moreover, the fresher the better. A salad that comes fresh from the field still contains many aromas and ingredients. It is therefore best to buy regional produce from organic farming.
Polluted raw vegetables
Pollutants, such as nitrate, can accumulate in salad and vegetables. The plants absorb the substance from the soil because they need it to grow.
Nitrate is initially harmless to humans. However, it becomes dangerous when it turns into nitrite, which is regarded as carcinogenic. The substance is formed when salads or vegetables are packed in airtight containers. In addition, certain enzymes in the saliva and intestines promote the formation of the substance. If you want to take care of your health, you should buy salads that have a low nitrate content from the outset, for example outdoor and organic salads.
Salads harvested on a sunny day in the evening also contain less nitrate. The light and heat promote the breakdown of the pollutant. Varieties such as lettuce, lamb’s lettuce and rocket contain more nitrate. Lettuce can also contain heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and residues of pesticides. A short but thorough wash helps here. Organic salads are usually less contaminated than conventionally grown ones.