Salad for dinner helps you sleep well

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Extract from the article: Lettuce stems contain sap, which has calming and even soporific properties. So does lettuce help you sleep better?

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Lettuce stems contain sap, which has calming and even soporific properties. So does lettuce help you sleep better? In botany, lettuce is called lactuca, a name linked to the fact that it contains a white latex called lactucarium, derived from the Latin lactis, milk. This lactucarium, especially that of the variety Lactusa virosa (worm lettuce), is thought to act as a painkiller and sleeping aid. In fact, it's known as ‘lettuce opium’ and has even been used by doctors to ease pain. It is said that in the 1970s, some people tried to use worm lettuce as a soft drug, but without much success.

That said, lactucarium is found in the stems and not in the leaves, or only in minute quantities. In other words, in a classic salad, it is highly unlikely that you would swallow enough lactucarium to see any effect whatsoever. So to get the effect of lettuce on insomnia, you have to eat the stem too. Give it a try. Because, as they say, experience makes the difference.

William O.