Why Iceberg lettuce is bad.

[mocha200]

I have always wondered why it is bad. Is it because it is low in nutrients? because celery is low in nutrients too but you can still feed that to bunnies. Is there another reason why its bad?
Thanks,
Mocha200
 

[Monkeybun]

Iceberg lettuce isn’t just low on nutrients, the nutrients just do not exist. They are just water, really. And you don’t want the buns to fill up on something that will do nothing for htem. If they fill up on iceberg, they won’t be hungry for food that actually feeds them and keeps them healthy.

[mocha200]

I see so its not that its ” bad ” for them, its just that other veggies such as romaine lettuce is better. Thanks.

[Monkeybun]

No, its bad alright. Its substance with no vitamins or nutrition. Its like us eating paper. We get full, but get nothing out of it. We would spend more energy digesting it than we would get out of it. Even though we could eat it, doesn’t mean we should.

Keep away from iceberg!

[mocha200]

ok thank you

[LoveChaCha]

Romaine is full of nutrients, the darker the green, the better Red Leaf Lettuce is nommy too, but tends to rot easier.

Romaine and Red Leaf both contain beta carotene, which is good for the eyes

[Sarita]

Here’s a good reply from Dana Krempel’s on why iceberg lettuce is not recommended:

en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/200…ettuce.htm

and here – it’s more info on lettuce and I recommend reading this:

en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Lettuce-1.htm

I think her answer makes alot of sense and I’ve wondered myself about iceberg lettuce – my vet recenlty recommended it for Toffee to help keep her weight off because she thought it would be a good low calorie filler – I’ve not given it to her instead have just increased the romaine. 

[mocha200]

I would never feed it to the buns I just wanted to know why so when people ask me why they can’t feed it to the rabbits i will know what to say besides “its bad for them”. Thank you guys so much, and thanks for the links sarita.

[Sarita]

I think the second reply by Dana has alot of insight as to why this is not recommended due to pesticides more than anything.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I was so wondering this too because I am eating lots of salad and mixing romaine in with iceburg…and was wondering if I could share at all. I was just curious because if it’s water and fibre…whats the harm? But thank you for the articles!!! I really like to know ‘why’

[Beka27]

Great answers from Dr. Krempel!

There are so many BETTER things to feed other than iceburg!

[jerseygirl]

A lot of lettuce contain a substance that can have a mild sedative effect. Iceberg has more then romaine has but I don’t know how it compares with other lettuces. I think iceberg could have got a bad name because it’s common, readily available, cheap and may have been the only thing people were giving them. Like a whole iceberg lettuce. Given like that it’s bound to have caused some digestive upsets.

The other thing with lettuces is they’re often wet when you buy them.They can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and when wet for too long, this only worsens and they perish rapidly also.

I’m not a big fan of lettuces for the rabbits. I do give it but it doesn’t make up the majority of their greens. I like to buy things that are more fibrous and robust. The added bonus is those greens last longer stored so I don’t feel like I’m discarding the majority and wasting money.

[mocha200]

What kind of veggies do you buy? I would feel bad if i stopped giving lettuce because its one of there favorite veggies.

[jerseygirl]

You could continue to give it. I think some forms last longer then others. It’s just my personal preference. I also don’t like to eat it myself much. ;o)
I tend to buy things like curly endive, radacchio, celery (mostly for the tops) brussel sprouts when in season, flat leaf parsley, carrot tops (free!) sometimes regular broccoli or chinese broccoli or broccoli di rabe which is really leafy. Chicory(dandelion greens?) and tuscan kale when it’s cheap.

If your growing veggies for yourselves you can feed the leaves from broccoli and cauliflower plants, turnip and beet root tops and carrot tops of course.

[LoveChaCha]

Cilantro, Parsley are yummies. I occasionally will buy a wheat grass as a treat

[Sarita]

Lettuce is perfectly fine. Romaine, green leaf or red leaf and Spring Mixes and the curly endive, raddicchio are also fine. Mocha if you are giving them this now, please continue, it’s perfectly fine and healthy for them and they like it.

[BinkyBunny]

This is very good to know though about the pesticide/water content with iceberg. It makes sense as celery can have the same issue with pesticide amounts due to the high water content of celery. I normally buy organic when I can afford it, but celery I normally always get organic for the same reason. (higher pesticide content)

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

My boys go absolutely crazy for Kale, Basil and Mint! They also like cilantro, parsley (either italian or regular), bok choy, romaine lettuce, and cellery.

[Roxygirl]

Does anyone know if the color of the romaine leaves matter? I’ve always wondered about the innermost leaves of my romaine heads as I’ve always been told no iceberg OR light colored leaves and the inner leaves tend to be lighter colored. I usually just use them to make a small salad for myself when I can remember to use them before they spoil, but I would rather feed them to Heffie if he can have them.

[Sarita]

I always use the inner leaves – I usually buy the hearts of Romaine anyway. Usually the inner leaves are more tender. I’m sure the outer leaves are more nutritious which doesn’t mean that necessarily the inner leaves are not. The outer leaves are the older tougher leaves. I see no need to waste any of your Romaine lettuce.

[mocha200]

I always use the inner leaves to. my rabbits also love the stems/bottoms of the romaine the best.

[Roxygirl]

That’s good to know, thanks Sarita and Mocha! I’m off to the store to pick up more veggies as it is. I think I’m going to try some clover sprouts and see if I can find dandelion leaves.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I always use the inner leaves – I usually buy the hearts of Romaine anyway. Usually the inner leaves are more tender. I’m sure the outer leaves are more nutritious which doesn’t mean that necessarily the inner leaves are not. The outer leaves are the older tougher leaves. I see no need to waste any of your Romaine lettuce.

That’s exactly right from what I’ve read. The darker-the more nutritious, the lighter the softer And I give both. I love romaine hearts for myself so they usually get the very dark

[RabbitPam]

I’m glad to learn that whole romaine head is good for them. I tend to lean heavily toward the dark leaves. My mother likes to split a big head with me, keeping the bottom, whiter part and giving Sammy the bushy tops because they stick to my mother’s teeth.

Loved the articles from Dana Krempels, btw, Sarita. I was convinced it was bad for them, but wasn’t sure why either. Pesticides make so much sense. Our guinea pigs were victims of it in the 60s. We were kids, and the local grocery store would let my mother and other pet owners have bags of the outer leaves for free from the fresh lettuce heads they sold. Turned out to still retain some pesticides even after we washed them.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

So now what I’m wondering…should we ALL stop eating iceburg ourselves? Ish-pesticides….

[mocha200]

yeah. now that I know of all those chemicals in it. it makes me feel grossed out just thinking about it.

[Roxygirl]

And the darker leafy lettuces are so much better for you anyway. More nutrients and antioxidants!

[LoveChaCha]

Posted By Kokaneeandkahlua on 04/01/2011 06:09 PM
So now what I’m wondering…should we ALL stop eating iceburg ourselves? Ish-pesticides….

 

There are times when I will eat iceburg salads, like at pizza places that serve salad. It tastes better with all of the stuff I put on it o_o

I do prefer my romaine salads and I use green leaf in sandwiches. I always look for the dark leaves.

I use the entire head of romaine for Chacha, all the way down til there is nothing! 

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