(Who knew it (Blogfa - by Zizilak

I was taking to my roommate today about making a nice salad, when she mentioned she does not eat lettuce because she thinks there is no nutrition in lettuce and she finds spinach much healthier. I was sure she is wrong, because I knew that spinach has a substance called oxalate that can contribute to gout and kidney stones, and is an oxidant. I also knew that the iron in spinach is purely absorbed (which I learned today can be enhanced by adding calcium content like using yogurt as the dressing). So I went to Wikipedia to check it out.

Look what I found! Who knew it that lettuce has a substance that is a mild opiate called Lactucarium (or “Lettuce opium”). If you don't believe it check out the Wikipedia's site for lettuce. Romans and Egyptians used this to induce sleep after a large meal. This just reminded me of those long hot summer afternoons that you could not do anything but dose off the heat.

By the way! Looks like she is right, there is far more nutrition items in spinach compared to lettuce. My be our ancestors where really smart when they invented "Burani", a delicious recipe containing spinach and yogurt. That way you can enjoy all the benefits of the extra iron content in spinach. But please don't overdose yourself with oxylate poisening. Meanwhile I will stick to my lettuce salad if you don't mind