Arthritis is an inflammatory condition and vegetables, lettuce included, contain a variety of helpful plant-based compounds that can contribute positively to its management. Lettuce is a great way to reduce inflammation in your joints. Flavonoids, phenolic acids, and vitamin C all combine to help fight inflammation and keep arthritis symptoms at bay. 

Lettuce is, in many ways, the quintessential salad green and a vegetable that is widely consumed globally. Given that it is easily accessible and easy to work with raw, lettuce is generally a good entry point for people who are trying to increase their leafy green vegetable intake. It’s also among the most affordable vegetables, an important consideration given rising food prices.

Given the lettuce is comprised of 95% water, it also has a modestly hydrating component to it as well. Some people assume that because of its significant water content that lettuce is devoid of any meaningful nutritional value, but that actually is not the case. While darker green varieties, like romaine, do tend to have a higher antioxidant content even standard lettuce varieties are a source (meaning they contain 5%+ of the DV of a nutrient) of important nutrients including Vitamin K, Vitamin A, folate and Iron. Often seeing a local family physician or a physiotherapist in conjunction with a registered dietitian and athletic therapist is a great option to take control of this condition. Smart Food Now and exercise is also optominal for overall health.   

Arthritis is an inflammatory condition and vegetables, lettuce included, contain a variety of helpful plant-based compounds that can contribute positively to its management. Lettuce is a great way to reduce inflammation in your joints. Flavonoids, phenolic acids, and vitamin C all combine to help fight inflammation and keep arthritis symptoms at bay. Weight management can be important for patients trying to improve arthritis symptoms and lettuce is a vegetable that is easy to prepare, high in water
content, fibre and other nutrients with very few calories. This makes lettuce a great choice if you are looking to add more vegetables into your diet.  Dr. Stefanie Wade, MD, FRCPC, Rheumatologist and Sarah Ware, RD, Registered Dietician, talk about the health benefits of lettuce in relation to Arthritis