The Side effect, Religion and Medicinal Lore
Any Side Effects Of Lettuce We Should Know?
Excess Vitamin K
Excess of vitamin K can cause problems in people on blood thinning medications like warfarin. Excess of lettuce can decrease the effectiveness of warfarin. So, if you are on blood thinning medication, talk to your doctor before consuming lettuce.
Issues During Pregnancy And Breastfeeding
Lettuce is safe in normal amounts. But we don’t know what will happen with overuse. Hence, avoid excess intake.
Issues With Prostate And Vision (Wild Lettuce)
Wild lettuce is another variety of lettuce, but is very less commonly consumed. It must not be taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It also can lead to an enlarged prostate and narrow-angle glaucoma. So, avoid consuming it.
Conclusion
Leafier, greener, and we guess even healthier – that’s lettuce for you. Add it to your diet. That’ll be one decision you will be happy about.
What is Devil’s lettuce?
Weed and marijuana are also called Devil’s lettuce in some places.
What about rocket lettuce?
It is a leafy green and edible plant that is also called arugula.
Food-Borne Illness
Food-borne pathogens that can survive on lettuce include Listeria monocytogenes, the causative agent of listeriosis, which multiplies in storage. However, despite high levels of bacteria being found on ready-to-eat lettuce products, a 2008 study found no incidences of food-borne illness related to listeriosis, possibly due to the product's short shelf life, indigenous microflora competing with the Listeria bacteria or inhibition of bacteria to cause listeriosis.
Other bacteria found on lettuce include Aeromonas species, which have not been linked to any outbreaks; Campylobacter species, which cause campylobacteriosis; and Yersinia intermedia and Yersinia kristensenii (species of Yersinia), which have been found mainly in lettuce. Lettuce has been linked to numerous outbreaks of the bacteria E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella; the plants were most likely contaminated through contact with animal feces. A 2007 study determined that the vacuum cooling method, especially prevalent in the California lettuce industry, increased the uptake and survival rates of E. coli O157:H7.Salmonella bacteria, including the uncommon Salmonella braenderup type, have also caused outbreaks traced to contaminated lettuce. Viruses, including hepatitis A, calicivirus and a Norwalk-like strain, have been found in lettuce. The vegetable has also been linked to outbreaks of parasitic infestations, including Giardia lamblia.
Religious and Medicinal Lore
In addition to its usual purpose as an edible leafy vegetable, lettuce has had a number of uses in ancient (and even some more modern) times as a medicinal herb and religious symbol. For example, ancient Egyptians thought lettuce to be a symbol of sexual prowess and a promoter of love and childbearing in women. The Romans likewise claimed that it increased sexual potency. In contrast, the ancient Greeks connected the plant with male impotency, and served it during funerals (probably due to its role in the myth of Adonis' death), and British women in the 19th century believed it would cause infertility and sterility. Lettuce has mild narcotic properties; it was called "sleepwort" by the Anglo-Saxons because of this attribute, although the cultivated L. sativa has lower levels of the narcotic than its wild cousins. This narcotic effect is a property of two sesquiterpene lactones which are found in the white liquid (latex) in the stems of lettuce, called lactucarium or "lettuce opium".
Lettuce is also eaten as part of the Jewish Passover Seder, where it is considered the optimal choice for use as the bitter herb, which is eaten together with the matzah.
Some American settlers claimed that smallpox could be prevented through the ingestion of lettuce, and an Iranian belief suggested consumption of the seeds when afflicted with typhoid. Folk medicine has also claimed it as a treatment for pain, rheumatism, tension and nervousness, coughs and insanity; scientific evidence of these benefits in humans has not been found. The religious ties of lettuce continue into the present day among the Yazidi people of northern Iraq, who have a religious prohibition against eating the plant.
Food-borne pathogens that can survive on lettuce include Listeria monocytogenes, the causative agent of listeriosis, which multiplies in storage. However, despite high levels of bacteria being found on ready-to-eat lettuce products, a 2008 study found no incidences of food-borne illness related to listeriosis, possibly due to the product's short shelf life, indigenous microflora competing with the Listeria bacteria or inhibition of bacteria to cause listeriosis.
Other bacteria found on lettuce include Aeromonas species, which have not been linked to any outbreaks; Campylobacter species, which cause campylobacteriosis; and Yersinia intermedia and Yersinia kristensenii (species of Yersinia), which have been found mainly in lettuce. Lettuce has been linked to numerous outbreaks of the bacteria E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella; the plants were most likely contaminated through contact with animal feces. A 2007 study determined that the vacuum cooling method, especially prevalent in the California lettuce industry, increased the uptake and survival rates of E. coli O157:H7.Salmonella bacteria, including the uncommon Salmonella braenderup type, have also caused outbreaks traced to contaminated lettuce. Viruses, including hepatitis A, calicivirus and a Norwalk-like strain, have been found in lettuce. The vegetable has also been linked to outbreaks of parasitic infestations, including Giardia lamblia.
Religious and Medicinal Lore
In addition to its usual purpose as an edible leafy vegetable, lettuce has had a number of uses in ancient (and even some more modern) times as a medicinal herb and religious symbol. For example, ancient Egyptians thought lettuce to be a symbol of sexual prowess and a promoter of love and childbearing in women. The Romans likewise claimed that it increased sexual potency. In contrast, the ancient Greeks connected the plant with male impotency, and served it during funerals (probably due to its role in the myth of Adonis' death), and British women in the 19th century believed it would cause infertility and sterility. Lettuce has mild narcotic properties; it was called "sleepwort" by the Anglo-Saxons because of this attribute, although the cultivated L. sativa has lower levels of the narcotic than its wild cousins. This narcotic effect is a property of two sesquiterpene lactones which are found in the white liquid (latex) in the stems of lettuce, called lactucarium or "lettuce opium".
Lettuce is also eaten as part of the Jewish Passover Seder, where it is considered the optimal choice for use as the bitter herb, which is eaten together with the matzah.
Some American settlers claimed that smallpox could be prevented through the ingestion of lettuce, and an Iranian belief suggested consumption of the seeds when afflicted with typhoid. Folk medicine has also claimed it as a treatment for pain, rheumatism, tension and nervousness, coughs and insanity; scientific evidence of these benefits in humans has not been found. The religious ties of lettuce continue into the present day among the Yazidi people of northern Iraq, who have a religious prohibition against eating the plant.
To be continue in our next post.........
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