Wild Lettuce

Other Names: Acrid Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce, German Lactucarium, Green Endive, Lactuca virosa, Lactucarium, Laitue Amère, Laitue à Opium, Laitue Sauvage, Laitue Scariole, Laitue Serriole, Laitue Vireuse, Lechuga Silvestre, Lettuce Opium, Poison Lettuce, Strong-Scented Lettuce.
Wild lettuce is a plant. The leaves, sap (latex), and seed are used to make medicine.

Special Precautions of Wild Lettuce

• Wild lettuce seems safe for most people in small amounts. Large amounts, however, can slow breathing and might cause death.
• Applying wild lettuce directly to the skin can cause irritation. Large amounts can cause sweating, fast heartbeat, pupil dilation, dizziness, ringing in the ears, vision changes, sedation, breathing difficulty, and death.
• Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of wild lettuce during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.
• Enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, BPH): Don’t use wild lettuce if you have this condition. It contains a chemical that can harm people who have trouble urinating.
• Allergy to ragweed and related plants: Wild lettuce may cause an allergic reaction in people who are sensitive to the Asteraceae/Compositae family. Members of this family include ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, daisies, and many others. If you have allergies, be sure to check with your healthcare provider before taking wild lettuce.
• Narrow-angle glaucoma: Don’t use wild lettuce if you have this eye condition. It contains a chemical that might make glaucoma worse.
• Surgery: Wild lettuce can affect the central nervous system. There is a concern that it might cause too much sleepiness if it is taken along with anesthesia and other nerve-numbing medications used during and after surgery. Stop using wild lettuce at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.
• Sedative medications (CNS depressants) interacts with Wild lettuce.

The benefits of Wild Lettuce are

Lettuce is usually found in salads. But not all lettuce has the same amounts of nutrients. There are varieties of lettuce in the market, but topping them is Romaine lettuce where two cups of fresh leaves can already provide more than 150 percent of the required allowance for vitamin A. more than a hundred percent of vitamin K can also be provided with the same amount of lettuce. Furthermore, there is vitamin C, folate and fiber which make the vegetable effective in preventing the negative effects of oxidative stress, particularly in cholesterol, thereby preventing any cardiovascular problems from developing. One of the most significant in lettuce is the folic acid, which works by converting homocysteine, a chemical implicated in many heart problems, into a substance that has benign effect to the body.

• Whooping cough.
• Asthma.
• Urinary tract problems.
• Cough.
• “Hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis).
• Trouble sleeping (insomnia).
• Restlessness.
• Painful menstrual periods.
• Sexual disorders.
• Muscle and joint pain.
• Killing germs, when the latex is applied to the skin.
• helps relieve headaches, anxiety and joint pain that may interfere with a good night's sleep.
• Digestion : Lettuce is a good source of dietary fiber and helps the stomach process different food types, allowing them to pass easily through the body.
• Colon cancer : eating lettuce is one of the best ways to decrease the risks of having colon cancer.