What the heck is a nightshade?

The first time I heard the term I had no idea what the person was talking about.

“Nightshade,” she said, “Like tomatoes and eggplant? …They cause swelling.”

“Great, more dietary restrictions,” I thought.  Growing up in a non-Kosher observant Jewish household, I have pretty strong reactions to people telling me what I can and can’t eat… Until they can offer me some sort of empirically deduced proof anyway…

So, who is this masked vegetable anyway?

Nightshades are in the Solanaceae family and are widely used for food, spices and even medicine. Some of my favorite foods are nightshades.  Potatoes, peppers and tomatoes are all in this family.

What’d the potato ever do to you?

The reason these plants aren’t good for us Chronically inclined folks is that they contain Alkaloids, which can be toxic.  Alkaloids from nightshades have been linked to poor joint health, as well as the state of a person’s nervous system.  Basically, alkaloids cause a raised level of inflammation in the body — inflammation is bad for joints but also many other systems — and they can also cause calcium deposits to build up in your joints.  In short, alkaloids are bad for Chronics.

Where do you find Nightshades?

Nightshades are everywhere.  Here’s a short list of common ones:

• Potatoes (not sweet ones)
• Tomatoes
• Peppers (hot and sweet, including paprika, cayenne and bell peppers)
• Eggplant
• Gogi berries
• Paprika
• Tobacco (shocking, nicotine is an alkaloid)
• Petunia (yes, the flower)
• Tomatillos and tamarillos

And even if you decide to cut out all of these foods from your diet, you may not be in the clear.  Processed foods often contain these foods in modified or nondescript forms.  For example, modified food starch is usually made from potatoes. If a processed item has “spices” on the ingredients list, it’s probably packing pepper or paprika (also pepper).  Also, some of the most popular sauces and soups are tomato based–marinara, salsa, chili.   I can’t imagine a world without Mexican food, but it’s chock full of those nasty little, delicious nightshades.

So what’s a nightshade-loving Chronic to do?

According to the Jour­nal of Neu­ro­log­i­cal and Ortho­pe­dic Med­ical Surgery, “Of the 52% rigidly on the diet [with­out night­shades], 94% reported com­plete or sub­stan­tial relief of arthri­tis…” That’s an incredible number, but this Mexican-food-loving Chronic will be the first to admit that it’s not an easy get.  But we do the best we can with the information we have.  So for now, cut what you can, and see if it helps!

Resources:

• Hub Pages, “Nightshades”: http://hubpages.com/hub/nightshades
• Nightshade Free, “Where have you found nightshades?”: http://www.nightshadefree.com/where-have-you-found-nightshades/

The photo above is from passer-by’s Flickr stream.  Good stuff, and not all food shots.

Around this time last year, I took a juice cleanse at my yoga studio.  At the beginning of the class, they said take what you like and leave the rest — talking about food related things seems to polarize people and they wanted everyone to feel comfortable.  The folks running the cleanse are raw vegans and talked a lot about what that diet means to them physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Raw vegan sounds really intense.  It’s a huge lifestyle shift for many people–one that I have no intention of making at this point in my life.  But there’s a lot to learn about food and eating from our vegan friends.

During the cleanse, we discussed a book called The Anti-Inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That’s Destroying Our Health.  The premise is that certain foods raise the level of inflammation in our bodies, everyone’s bodies — even our non-chronic friends.  I’ve definitely experienced swelling after consuming certain kinds of foods and beverages.  Alcohol, dairy leaves me feeling terrible the next day, not just that hang-over or that over full feeling, but swollen and in pain.  It’s part of the reason I no longer drink.

I have the book.  So I’ll be purusing it a reporting back.  For now, I’d say try to notice how you feel after you eat specific foods, grains, vegetables, and drink certain drinks.  Try to isolate what leaves you feeling crumby the next day, and what you don’t feel in your system the next day!