The Lettuce Diet: Short weight-loss plan with few calories and lots of vitamins

The Lettuce Diet is very low in calories, so you could think it is unsafe, but the vitamins, minerals, and fiber contained by lettuce actually make it an ideal choice, especially for short-term weight loss.

The benefits of a Lettuce Diet

Let’s see what the Lettuce Diet consists of, and if it is an effective, healthy method for losing weight.

Phase 1

This 2-day accommodation phase requires you to consume ½ lettuce at breakfast, prepared as follows:

Wash the lettuce, leaf by leaf, chop it as finely as you like, and add salt to taste, lemon juice, and finely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, dill…etc.). You can also drink a cup of black coffee with no sugar.

When you wake up, drink a tall glass of water, before you eat the salad. At breakfast, you are not allowed to eat bread or any other food besides salad. Throughout the rest of the day you can eat your regular meals.

Phase 2

In this phase, you have to replace both breakfast and dinner with the above-mentioned salad. The same restrictions apply. The second phase also lasts 2 days.

Phase 3

The third phase lasts 3 days, requiring you to eat only the lettuce salad throughout the day. No other foods are allowed, but you can eat as much salad as possible.

Phase 4

From now on, you’ll be slowly returning to a normal eating pattern. The fourth phase is identical to the second phase of the diet. As a result, during the two days of phase 4, you’ll be eating lettuce salad at breakfast and dinner and a regular meal at lunch.

Phase 5

The Lettuce Diet’s fifth phase is identical to the first one. For the last two days of the diet, you’ll eat the lettuce salad at breakfast (just like in the first phase), while at lunch and dinner, you can eat any food you like.

Considerations

First, throughout the diet, you’ll slowly replace everything you eat with lettuce salad. These meals can become very boring due to the lack of variety. Even so, there are a few tricks to make the diet a bit more pleasant. Lettuce comes in many different varieties such as looseleaf, romaine, iceberg, butterhead…etc. Feel free to use more than one type of lettuce for your salads so you can eat salads that have different tastes and consistencies. Check out our visual guide to get some inspiration for your salads!

Also, there will only be three days when you’re not allowed to eat other foods except lettuce salad (the third phase of the diet), which is an acceptable period.
Lettuce is rich in fiber, vitamins A and K, potassium, and also offers moderate levels of vitamin C (although you’ll get more from the lemon juice), calcium, iron, and copper. The dietary fiber will also promote bowel movements and detoxify the body.

The main issue with this diet is that you can’t follow it if you suffer from any kind of gastro-intestinal illness. However, even for other medical conditions, it is recommended to consult a doctor before adopting it. Also, the Lettuce Diet doesn’t specify what you should eat at the “regular” meals, and this can lead to overeating and unhealthy food choices, especially after 3 days of eating only lettuce salad.

For this diet to succeed, you must be aware of what you eat during all meals, not just the salad-based ones. When followed appropriately, the Lettuce Diet can help you lose up to 14 pounds during 11 days.