Nightshade Free Support Thread page 15

[jammies]

When I was diagnosed with CVID the immunologist warned me that inflammation would likely be a problem. I was recently tested for inflammation and it came back as being pretty bad.

Okay - that makes sense. CVID can definitely come with autoimmune issues. Do you have any symptoms of inflammation that you are able to perceive now? Fatigue, aches and pains, rashes....anything like that. I'm just wondering how you would test the elimination. The ideal things is to give up nightshades, nuts, dairy, and eggs for a few weeks to a month and then add them in once at a time to see how you feel. I guess you could go by a CRP value.

I don't know if diet could impact CVID mediated auto-immunity, but I can actually imagine a few scenarios where it could be possible. So it may be worth doing if you can figure out a way to test it. Do you keep tabs on your vitamin D levels?

[onalark]

Without dairy, nightshades and egg what meals form the staples of everyone diets?

What are their go to foods when they need something quick and easy?

Have you found any restaurant foods or takeaway that you can eat?

I'm in week one of trying the protocol (I'm hypothyroid and don't have joint pain, but I am curious to see if no-nightshades/dairy/eggs has a significant impact on my overall health). I'm missing the flavorful punch that nightshades so often contribute (chiles, zingy tomatoes, etc.). So far, here's what I've been able to eat:

Chicken lettuce wraps at a local restaurant -- simply grilled chicken, lettuce, veggies. I asked for limes on the side so I could squeeze them onto the wraps. Would have been awesome with some coconut aminos.

Home-smoked meats are your friend. Tons of flavor! So good! So easy! I rubbed down a pork shoulder and tritip with my own blend of nightshade-free spices and cooked them using this method:
Crazy-Good Barbecued Pulled Pork | theclothesmakethegirl

(Note: the recipe there uses paprika. I did not. You can use any rub and get good results.)

Lettuce-wrapped hamburgers...but they're really bland without mustard or ketchup or mayo or cheese. Also need to make sure they don't use "grill seasoning", which is usually just salt and pepper, but sometimes is more than that.

Oxtail soup with orange peel and anise. This was super yummy and highly flavorful.

Curries using homemade curry powder. Most premade curry powders contain paprika or chiles, and I don't trust the ones that don't include those ingredients. Luckily, I have the spices for homemade curry powder on hand, so not a problem for me.

Longbeans with coconut aminos and sesame oil. I loved this. The husband was not as enthusiastic.

Tonight I have some chicken fingers I want to try. I've been soaking chicken breast strips in coconut milk and vinegar (what I hope will emulate buttermilk), garlic and onion powders, and I'm going to "bread" those in coconut and almond flours, then bake them.

I also have a recipe for a "marinara" using beets and sweet squash (kabocha, butternut, etc.). I'll let you know if this turns out good. I am hoping so. This is from one of my old macrobiotic recipes. Always meant to try it, never got around to it.

In a pinch, I just eat spoonfuls of coconut manna. Hey, it could be worse.

[j3nn]

Hey guys,

In the past year or so, I have developed a disturbing reaction to hot peppers! I get an instant headache after eating them, raw or cooked. The headache doesn't happen with sweet bell peppers but smelling bell peppers irritates my sinuses and I usually sneeze while chopping them. Other nightshades don't present this problem, could this be a sign that I don't tolerate any nightshades or is there something exclusive to peppers that don't jive with me? Strangely enough, this is a new symptom, never noticed the problem before this year-year and a half, but didn't eat hot peppers regularly until my mid 20s. So sad. I love spicy foods but have to avoid them like the plague now. I handle very small amounts without reaction, but that's rare these days.

[Bushrat]

Okay - that makes sense. CVID can definitely come with autoimmune issues. Do you have any symptoms of inflammation that you are able to perceive now? Fatigue, aches and pains, rashes....anything like that. I'm just wondering how you would test the elimination. The ideal things is to give up nightshades, nuts, dairy, and eggs for a few weeks to a month and then add them in once at a time to see how you feel. I guess you could go by a CRP value.

I don't know if diet could impact CVID mediated auto-immunity, but I can actually imagine a few scenarios where it could be possible. So it may be worth doing if you can figure out a way to test it. Do you keep tabs on your vitamin D levels?

Fatigue, aches and pains I have on and off. I don't keep tabs on anything, its something that I have never been able to keep doing.

As for an elimination diet, I guess I would cut out everything possible for a month or two and add it back in gradually and see what happens. Or cut it all out and leave it out maybe. I'm not sure yet.

[zizou]

Anyone been able to reintroduce nightshades to some degree? I've been nightshade free approaching 2months. I THINK it does benefit me to avoid them. But perhaps, i could indulge in a little bit of eggplant, capsicum and potatoe curry once a week or something.

Anyone incorporate nightshades moderately, and confirmed that they do infact function better without/reduced amounts of nightshades?

My joint pains in my fingers are not present anymore and i hope that i have improved/stopped irritating my leaky gut, but perhaps i can have it in very moderate amounts (i.e a small tomatoe for sauces, a small potatoe cake, little bit of eggplant and capsciucm etc).

[jammies]

Anyone been able to reintroduce nightshades to some degree? I've been nightshade free approaching 2months. I THINK it does benefit me to avoid them. But perhaps, i could indulge in a little bit of eggplant, capsicum and potatoe curry once a week or something.

Anyone incorporate nightshades moderately, and confirmed that they do infact function better without/reduced amounts of nightshades? My joint pains in my fingers are not present anymore and i hope that i have improved/stopped irritating my leaky gut, but perhaps i can have it in very moderate amounts (i.e a small tomatoe for sauces, a small potatoe cake, little bit of eggplant and capsciucm etc).

For about the first year or year and half of being nightshade free I found that even tiny amounts could trigger pain and swelling for me. Just in the last few months I have reached the point where I can have the occasional meal with some nightshades and not totally flare. In fact, I went to a chili tasting this weekend and tried 5 different chili's. Although I did get some aching in my hands, it was no where near as bad as I thought.

I have read somewhere that the solanine builds up in your tissues and causes symptoms when it gets above a certain level. So maybe after enough time it has cleared out and you can tolerate a bit here and there?

I'm really not sure - all of this is speculation. I know it will be a while before i have any again, I just don't want to risk crossing over that tipping point.

It's all trial and error I guess!!

[zizou]

Yeah, i guess it'll depend on the individual. I actually think i just might be able to have it in a meal fortnightly or so. I guess i'll just save it for rare occasions when i'm craving a nice nightshade curry, until then i will continue avoiding as i think there have definitley been some improvements in my overall health. Such a friggen bummer adding to the ever growing avoid list.

[Jenni77]

Wow, what an interesting thread.

I vave been primal for a year, with occasional cheats and I have to say my health and wellbeeing has majorly improved.

I don't have athritis in the sense of having daily pain, but once in a while I would wake up with severe pain in my elbow and lower back. Also athritis runs in my family, most women in my family got it around my age. Also I have a swelling in my calves that just does not go away, even became a lillte worse through primal. This might have happened, bause I suddelny ate more nightshades.

I have never really considered excluding nightshades from my diet, but I always thought, that even though I felt much better, something was missing.

So since 1,5 months I have been Nightshade free by accidant, because I started ordering my vegetables of a farm in my area to be a bit more environmentally friendly (Northern Europe). So in the winter I wouldn't get nightshades. Also by chance, I didn't even use so much Pepper and Chilli as a spice recently, even though I love them. And when used them, I got little digestion problems and rashes. I still didn't connect the facts together though, because the issues were not that severe.

A week back though, I had a nightshade overload, cause I went shopping in the supermarket. Tomatoes for breakfast, Pepper throughout the day, and I also used the spices pepperpoweder and chillipepper in my dishes. And 10 hours later, as well as the next day I had major digestive problems, and coul't leave the bathroom.
And then I rememberd back to my last trip to turkey. I basicly had severe belly pains thoughout the whole holiday, diarrhea and pain thoughout the body. They put hot Pepper/Pepper in every dish as vegatable as well as a spice. And they eat a lot of tomatoes.

So after reading lots of information in the internet and this forum, I will actively give up nightshades, and see how I go.

PS: Has somebody any knowledge/studies about the extensive use of nightshades in western cultures in connection with health issues/digestive issues? Considering they were only introduced after Europeans had invaded South America, the orignial country of nightshades. (It would also explain "Montezuma's revenge" )

[Paleobird]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned on this very long thread or not but I really recommend the blog of Dr. Georgia Ede for anyone who has a nightshade issue. She is a psychiatrist who is exploring dietary alternatives for the treatment of neurological issues. She herself suffers from multiple food intolerances including nightshades and has done some very interesting posts about it. The blog is called Diagnosis : Diet

[Amethyst42]

Have you ever strongly avoided something because you knew it was likely true, and didn't want to have to deal with that inconvenient truth? That's me and this thread!
My joint pain is not usually severe all the time, but when it happens... things I enjoy are cancelled, I lie in bed in misery, unless lying down hurts more than standing up. Knees are usual victims, but also sometimes hips.
I know that when I eat more than a small tomato, my cheeks, neck, and chest flush red.
I just started primal, and I'm still adjusting to no grains, and super-limited dairy. Stomach and energy levels are already better. Once I get into the swing of things, I will attempt reducing my nightshade family, and see how my joint pain does.