The Reader Digests | Lettuce

"It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific.' I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then I am not a rabbit." ---Beatrix Potter, The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies

Well, Ms. Potter, I can tell you that I have my own theory about why lettuce makes you sleepy!  It is boring! Tasteless! I know some people enjoy a good crunchy salad, and I do too, but it better have more of everything else, and minimal lettuce. (I guess I should interrupt this blog and mention that none of these views are adopted by SSJCPL in general - the library promotes healthy eating of all veggies, including lettuce. It's just me who doesn't like it! Which makes my clean eating endeavor that much harder.)

However, it is true that lettuce does have sleep inducing qualities, other than being boring. Lettuce contains lactur carium - a substance that sedates the nervous system.  In fact, back in Ancient Greece, lettuce was enjoyed after the meal. That is until a very mean and sadistic emperor named Domitian decided to switch up the order and serve the salad before the meal.  You see, it was illegal to fall asleep during the long meal with the emperor, which often lasted many hours. The penalty for sleeping could even include death.  Most people would be surprised by the idea of using lettuce as torture, but not me!  A big lettucey salad sounds like a lot like torture to this blogger!

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Lettuce creeps up in many of our books. Rapunzel finds herself taken captive because her expectant mother craved rapunzel or lamb's lettuce in the witches' garden.  Way to go, thieving parents.  It is a huge part of The Flopsy Bunnies, as mentioned above, and Peter Rabbit (which also includes theft).  And of course, you can find it as an ingredient in many recipes. 

And to be fair, I suppose lettuce can be enjoyable.  It is certainly refreshing and crunchy.  It definitely adds a good crunch in a sub sandwich.  Plus, it's healthy.  It has very low calories, and is a good source of vitamin K, C, A, folates, and beta-carotine.  It also contains good amounts of minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.  Okay, so maybe lettuce isn't boring after all, but I certainly won't be stealing it any time soon!

The Reader Digests | Clean Eats

It seems like the minute I turned 33, my metabolism decided to punish me.  I used to enjoy eating pretty much whatever I wanted and saw small to moderate weight gains, but nothing too substantial. Apparently, at 33 - for me anyway - it's all over.  Which is really irritating, especially since my blog is all about food! 

So I sought out new diets and eating habits to try and find a good balance that would allow me to eat pancakes, pizza, sushi, and burgers every once in a while, still maintaining a healthy weight. I came across "clean eating."  This diet trend has received much attention in recent years, espoused by

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celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce.  It can go from very extreme liquid diets (juice fasting) to simply adopting an awareness about the content and purpose of the food we enjoy.  I chose the latter, because as is obvious from the title of this blog, I like to eat.  Plus, I work at a library and can't afford a $500 juice cleanse pack (Sorry Gwynnie, it's just not happening) and I hate cleaning my juicer. Also, the idea of detoxification hasn't been scientifically proven.  Mostly though, I really like to eat.  

So what is clean eating?  Here are some very basic principles, which I sometimes try to follow:

• Eat simply.  Stick to plants, meats, whole grains like rice and whole wheat.  Try not to eat things out of a box.
• Choose food with a manageable amount of ingredients. If you are eating something with 20 lines of strange ingredients that you cannot identify, that's not so good.
• Eat smaller meals more frequently.
• Remove chemicals and processed foods from your diet.

  

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• Limit saturated fats.
• Reduce alcohol (1 drink per day) or eliminate it if you can.
• Replace coffee with green tea (I don't do this!)
• Watch sugar intake.  Sometimes even seemingly healthy food like yogurt can contain mostly sugar.
• Some people supplement with probiotics and extra vitamins, but doctors should always be consulted before adopting a diet like this.

 If you want to learn more about "clean" eating, check out some of these books:
Clean eats : over 200 delicious recipes to reset your body's natural balance and discover what it means to be truly healthy / Junger, Alejandro.

 The quick & clean diet : lose the weight, feel great, and stay lean for life / Alexander, Dari.

Clean food : a seasonal guide to eating close to the source / Walters, Terry

 The Chefs Collaborative cookbook : local, sustainable, delicious recipes from America's great chefs / Jackson, Ellen