Iceberg lettuce seems to be the main ingredient in most salads served in restaurants and salad bars, and the most common of the green, leafy vegetables seen in groceries. I’ve read a lot of articles on nutrition but have never seen iceberg lettuce mentioned specifically – either as a good source of any nutrient or as a food to avoid.
Does this common food have any nutritional value at all?
Well, there’s dietary fiber…
Actually, that’s about it:
Almost all foods and drinks have some nutritional value; but iceberg lettuce certainly doesn’t have very much. A comparison between iceberg and romaine lettuce has the romaine winning in almost every category — though you would still get a little bit of fiber from the iceberg. Perhaps a little surprisingly, you don’t even have the advantage of getting fewer calories from the iceberg lettuce.
Most lettuces are rather low in nutritional value. I have a bearded dragon and all the books and internet sites indicate to feed him greens (collard, mustard, turnip, etc.) instead of lettuce since they actually provide significant nutrition instead of just water found mostly in lettuce.
One cup of shredded iceberg lettuce supplies 22% of your daily requirement of Vitamin K.