Lettuce has been around for at least the past 2500 years being prized by the Romans, the Ancient Egyptians, the Ancient Greeks and hippies. Yes, that’s right hippies for it would appear lettuce has a wild and woolly past. Apparently, the milky fluid that seeps from the cut end of a lettuce not only has aphrodisiac qualities, it is also a sedative, is sleep inducing and produces mild feelings of euphoria. In fact, it was used by the Ancient Egyptians as ‘lettuce opium’ and listed as far back as 1000AD until the 17th century as an anaesthetic. It was also used as a drug in the USA from 1799 onwards; it was used extensively in the 1800’s in Poland as an alternative to opium; and in the mid 1970’s it was promoted by the hippies as a legal euphoric.
One of the earliest representation of lettuce was shown in a carving in which the god, Min was being offered the milk. In the middle ages it was infused with other herbs (ivy, mulberry, mandrake, and hemlock) and used as a pain killer in what was know as the ‘Soporific Sponge’. Although, infusions such as this have fallen out of favour today, lettuce is still used as a psychotropic drug in modern medicine.
Needless to say, lettuce 'milk' in the wrong hands, instead of promoting euphoric feelings, can be fatal -so I am not advocating its use in any way whatsoever! What I do suggest though, unless your blood sugars are really unstable, is that you eat lots of the lettuce's crispy, green leaves so you can take advantage of its powerhouse of mineral and vitamins: for it contains vitamins C, K, A, folate, thiamine; potassium, manganese, iron, choline and chlorophyll (which contains magnesium); and lots of dietary fibre. You’ll be so chock full of nutrients you will be bounding around all over the place.
Needless to say, lettuce 'milk' in the wrong hands, instead of promoting euphoric feelings, can be fatal -so I am not advocating its use in any way whatsoever! What I do suggest though, unless your blood sugars are really unstable, is that you eat lots of the lettuce's crispy, green leaves so you can take advantage of its powerhouse of mineral and vitamins: for it contains vitamins C, K, A, folate, thiamine; potassium, manganese, iron, choline and chlorophyll (which contains magnesium); and lots of dietary fibre. You’ll be so chock full of nutrients you will be bounding around all over the place.
Up until the middle ages, lettuce was eaten hot, but nowadays it is generally eaten cold, which is exactly how I like it, especially with a dressing of equal amounts of olive oil and apple cider vinegar with a few pieces of celtic salt and pepper. Yum, I can hardly wait until my lettuce seedlings are big enough to eat.
Source:
1. Wikipedia : History of Lettuce.2. 1969 Macdonald, C: Garden Herbs for Australia and New Zealand, AH &AW Reed Ltd, Sydney
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