It is pretty much universally believed that lettuce is good for you, and is often eaten in the form of salad for a healthy snack or as part of a larger meal.

However, far too few people give much thought to the kind of lettuce they use in their salads.

The most common types of lettuce used in salads, at least in the United States, are iceberg lettuce and romaine lettuce. However, iceberg lettuce is known for being rather bland and watery, and this raises the question: does iceberg lettuce have any nutritional value?

Well yes it does, but not much.

1 cup (chopped) of iceberg lettuce contains approximately 8 calories, 0.5 grams of protein, and 0.7 grams of fiber. That’s certainly not very much nutritional value. Romaine lettuce is slightly better, with 0.58 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fiber.

What about vitamins? 1 cup of iceberg lettuce does have 22% of the recommended daily value of vitamin K (17.4 mcg) and a small amount of vitamin A, but not much else.

All in all, iceberg lettuce has very little nutritional value. Romaine lettuce isn’t a whole lot better, but it still has more to offer your body in terms of nutrients.