Iceberg lettuce?

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ukpaul30

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Hi all

I read about the iceberg lettuce is bad for piggies because off high water content but why is this bad for them?

sorry if this question sounds dumb?/
 
I'm not 100& sure but i know it can cause diarrhea. :) I assume thats not just because of the water content though, as then surely cucumber would be bad too? I'm confused with you know.
 
Everywhere i've looked it's been classed as a big no no, not sure why though, but i always go by, if in doubt leave it out, better to be safe than sorry :)
 
Connie said:
I'm not 100& sure but i know it can cause diarrhea. :) I assume thats not just because of the water content though, as then surely cucumber would be bad too? I'm confused with you know.
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yeah am quite confused but am sure someone will put us right on here lol
 
Iceberg is one of the lowest green foods in nutrients so it isn't the best greens from a nutrition point of view, your best to stick with dark green. We feed veggies to give added vitamin C.
 
flintstones said:
Iceberg is one of the lowest green foods in nutrients so it isn't the best greens from a nutrition point of view, your best to stick with dark green. We feed veggies to give added vitamin C.
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so really its not bad for them/wont make them ill to eat it,as long as they have other greens as well
 
Iceberg can give them the runs and this can make them poorly quite quickly.

It's not gonna kill them if they eat a bit (mine have had small pieces in the past), but steer clear where you can :) If I'm buying pre-packed salads, I always choose the ones without iceberg

But why iceberg has this effect but not cucumber I don't know though!
 
ukpaul30 said:
so really its not bad for them/wont make them ill to eat it,as long as they have other greens as well
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Personally I wouldn't feed it but I don't believe it will kill them but it is a horrid vegetable and with so much stigma, I think avoiding is best. Is it really worth the risk?
 
Little Piggles said:
Iceberg can give them the runs and this can make them poorly quite quickly.

It's not gonna kill them if they eat a bit (mine have had small pieces in the past), but steer clear where you can :) If I'm buying pre-packed salads, I always choose the ones without iceberg

But why iceberg has this effect but not cucumber I don't know though!
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Thank you for your reply

So my next question is why can i feed my pigs cucumber and not Iceberg:{lol
 
One of my guinea pigs doesn't drink very much, so I give him cucumber as an extra source of fluids. But, like iceberg, it has very little nutritional value.

However, I have also fed him iceberg in the past (before I heard that you shouldn't) and I never noticed any adverse affects. I don't bother now though as there are nicer lettuces out there.
 
Cucumber actually upsets one of my piggies' tummies though I don't know why because the other two love it, so I don't give it very often.

As for lettuce of any kind I thought lettuce had a soporific effect so not sure why they are allowed any lettuce to be quite honest, I never gave any of my previous piggies any lettuce of any description, but have done since reading this forum, except iceberg rolleyes
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Cucumber actually upsets one of my piggies' tummies though I don't know why because the other two love it, so I don't give it very often.

As for lettuce of any kind I thought lettuce had a soporific effect so not sure why they are allowed any lettuce to be quite honest, I never gave any of my previous piggies any lettuce of any description, but have done since reading this forum, except iceberg rolleyes
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hmmm thanks for your reply,am really confused now :(|):))
 
I am still confused. My boys love cucmber, however so do i! This means they only get the ends. I tend to leave a pig end especially for them, but they get half each per day. Never had any problems but i guess the end isnt the fleshy watery bit... Hmmm... Confused.
 
I always thought iceburg lettuce had a high calcium level which is why it shouldn't be given as it can cause bladder stones etc?
 
I've always been under the impression that there is nothing wrong with iceburg just nutrionally pointless and so no advantage in feeding them it.
 
i thought it was something to do with the nitrates, although now i'm not sure if i read that or saw someone had said about it somewhere :{ and then the other reasons were about it having no nutritional value and also giving alot of piggies diarrhoea.

ches and maisie have salad mixes without iceberg and they have cos lettuce and hearts of romaine lettuce. they love those. x)
 
Iceberg lettuce has a high water content and not much fibre, so as a result, can cause diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is baaaad.

Also however, iceberg lettuce is a "pale green" leaf. Plants that are grown in poor light conditions (those that don't get much contact with sunlight), and so I'd assume also iceberg lettuce (pale green = not much chlorophyll = reduced ability to "absorb" sunlight), have high nitrate levels.

There's an enzyme that breaks down nitrates in the body, called methemoglobin reductase enzyme. Some people don't have enough of this due to a genetic condition, but other individuals (vegetarians and vegans particularly - i.e. herbivores!) can have insufficient amounts of this enzyme being produced.

High levels of nitrates in the body can result in problems with blood pressure regulation, reduced efficiency of the immune system and can also disrupt the general metabolism, specifically oxygen metabolism. (Just a side note - humans with methemoglobin reductase deficiency are often diagnosed shortly after birth, as it results in "blue baby syndrome", due to the fact that they are unable to make full use of the oxygen that they are taking in).

So that's why pigs shouldn't eat iceberg lettuce :))
 
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