It’s clear that our stomachs can’t break down most greenery around us, like ruminants with 4 stomachs can. But what makes one leaf digestible to us and another not?
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Lettuce is a domesticated plant, genetically manipulated over centuries of selective breeding to produce leaves with a lot of water and not a lot of cellulose or wax.
Lettuce is 95% water by weight, higher than many fruits.
Most plants don’t shamelessly waste their moisture on leaves like this. Tree leaves are much lower in the 40-50% range, with the rest being indigestible cellulose fibers and protective waxes to retain moisture.
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