June
2008
Nightshades
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Hidden Hazard?
As you (our gracious company of Apples) know, we unequivocally love our vegetables. Powerhouses of nutrients and antioxidant action, they’re the backbone of a good Primal diet. But the issue of nightshades has come up a few times recently. Nightshades, those vegetables that find their roots in the Solanaceae family of plants, include a host of reputable veggies and spices: eggplant, potatoes (yes, we know, not so reputable), peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce, et al. (Black pepper isn’t included in this list.)
Nightshade, you might exclaim? Isn’t nightshade those plants (many with alluring little berries) our camp counselors told us never, ever, to so much as put our grubby hands on? Quite possibly. The kinds of nightshade plants growing wild in the woods can be highly toxic. Some can cause death if ingested. Some actually have psychotropic properties. Inherent in this power is pharmaceutical potential. Very minute amounts of some nightshade components are prescribed to successfully treat a few kinds of allergic reactions or chemical poisoning as well as nausea related to certain conditions.
These potent little components are alkaloids, chemical substances that have one or more circular structures containing nitrogen. Essentially, they act as natural pesticides. (Evolution wasn’t just our gig after all. A plant’s gotta protect itself!) Four kinds of alkaloids in the Solanaceae family include the steroid alkaloids (the alkaloid found in most nightshade foods), tropane, pyrrolizidine and indole alkaloids. Steroid alkaloids have been shown to block certain nerve activity that can, at high levels, cause muscle shaking, paralysis and respiratory difficulty. They have also been associated with inflammation, particularly in the joints. Finally, some nightshade foods like eggplant and tomato contain trace amounts of nicotine.
But what does this mean for the tomato salad I always serve at our 4th of July barbeque? Should I give up eggplant parmigiana? No peppers or Tabasco? I thought hot food was good for me!
Before you raid your kitchen and gardens, let’s stop and take a closer look here. First off, nightshade foods contain a very small fraction of the alkaloid levels found in other “toxic” nightshade plants. If nightshades presented a major health threat to humans, we would’ve stopped eating them a long time ago or died off from the inability to learn from our neighbor’s experience. Even when nightshade foods are common ingredients in certain ethnic diets (peppers in parts of Latin America or tomatoes in Italy, to give some basic examples), the population as a whole in those parts doesn’t seem to suffer ill effects.
So, what gives? Are they bad, or are they O.K.? Our simple answer: eat them (and enjoy them) in moderation if you don’t feel any ill effects. While research hasn’t yet turned up any definitive evidence that the alkaloid-containing foods in question harm the human system, it’s generally accepted that some people are much more sensitive to them than others. Nightshades, in those with this sensitivity, have been associated with symptoms like stomach discomfort, digestive difficulties, joint pain, and muscle tremors. These reports have been enough to influence medical care professionals and some organizations to advise those with certain conditions like GERD, gout, or arthritis to avoid nightshades. If you don’t have these conditions but are concerned, it’s a good idea to take a full 2-4 weeks off from nightshade foods and see if you feel any differently. Some of us have mild enough reactions that we may not feel the difference until we set our own “control” scenario for comparison.
Finally, if sensitivity doesn’t seem to be a problem but you’d like to take some reasonable precautions, know that cooking nightshade foods (steaming, boiling, baking) can reduce the alkaloid levels to nearly half. And yet another reason to avoid potatoes: sprouted potatoes (and their associated green parts) have higher levels of alkaloids than other foods.
And, finally, we’d like to put in a plug for a widely varied diet. As much as we love our tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, we wouldn’t recommend making them the sole or primary vegetables in your diet. Variety offers the best in nutrient-rich and low-risk nourishment.
What are your thoughts on nightshades? Do you choose to embrace or avoid them? What influences your decision?
willsfca Flickr Photo (CC)
Further Reading:
Flame Thrower: 10 Ways to Reduce Inflammation
Health Benefits of Peppers (10 Peppers You Need to Try)
Modern Forager: Do Nightshades Promote Inflammation?
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It seems, from gobs and gobs of research, that the human body benefits from small amounts of substances that are poisonous in large doses. Caffeine, ethanol, aspirin, et al. are plant and microbe poisons that have clear health benefits in moderation. There’s even evidence that animals and primitive humans figured out how to use mild poisons to their benefit.
I love tomatoes and I eat them in my salads quite often. I also put salsa on my omlettes. I’ve been a little concerned since I first read Scott Kustes’s post on them although I can’t say I’ve noticed any ill effects. I’ve been without out them for the last couple of days because of the salmonella scare–might be a good time to try an exclusion test.
I could eat bell peppers & tomatoes all day long, they’re so delicious. I tried to cut out nightshades for awhile, but found myself really missing them in my salads. I started eating them again, but watching the amounts a little more closely.
I didn’t notice any big change when I stopped, but I still have a long way to go before I would say I’m fit or quite healthy. There’s so many things I’m trying to balance out that I doubt I could tell whether joint pain is from nightshades or a host of other things that cause it. I figured I would get my body into better shape and once I have a consistent handle on that I can try to tweak things further.
For now though, I’m still eating the nightshades because I love them and it’s still better than my former diet. Also, I’ve been eating them my whole life and never noticed any ill effect, and I can seriously inhale some raw bell peppers.
what about sweet potatoes and yams? I eat these way more than regular potatoes. they may not be nightshades,but as something fairly high-carb, what is your take on them?
Hedda,
If you going to eat carbs other than fruits and colorful veggies, you probably couldn’t pick beter than yams and sweet potatoes. Grok probably ate a fair amount of these types of tubers when he could find them
[...] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!If the Nightshades post got you interested in trying a couple weeks without them to see if you notice any differences [...]
Aside from paprika, what other spices are nightshades? I wonder in particular about curry powder? Does anyone have a good kimchi recipe that gets around the need for hot peppers and/or paprika? I would just like something with a little more kick than regular sauerkraut. Maybe I’ll get lucky and still have my minor elbow tendinitis etc. after eliminating nightshades. On second thought, maybe my minor complaints will disappear and I can learn to like blander food! Great post…as usual!
Thanks!
YAY! These are my favorite treat, I’m glad to hear the apple approves!I almost never eat any other kind of ‘carb’, so I’m glad this is safe:) Although, why do we call grains carbs? I mean, even veggies have carbs. They’re everywhere!I wouldn’t say I avoid carbs, just grains.
thanks Mark for that
another characteristic of this group are there lectin content
“think of a lectin as a protein containing a key that fits a certain type of lock. This lock is a specific type of carbohydrate. All life forms, plant and animal, insect and fungus have cell membranes that contain carbohydrates that sit within and project from the membrane. If a lectin with the right key comes in contact with one of these ‘locks’ on the gut wall or artery or gland or organ it ‘opens the lock’, that is disrupts the membrane and damages the cell and may initiate a cascade of immune and autoimmune events leading to cell death. (see http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html)
the primary concern over lectins is their ability - particularly in sensitive people to attack the gut lining and allow whole proteins to cross into the blood - initiating an auto immune response - some believe that this is at the root of MS and other autoimmune disease. you should get tested for leaky gut if you are concerned.
i read a study analysing the tomato and found that they are only in the juice around the seed - so i eat tomatoes without the juice - just a nice in my opinion.
i avoid potatoes and peanuts (a legume - a family with most lectins) but i do eat aubergine and courgette on and off.
wheat and other grain fibre is high in lectins to.
markus
avoid potatoes and peanuts (a legume - a family with most lectins)
I have a question not directly on topic but related to your comment. When I was looking for some almond butter the other day, I noticed a product I hadn’t seen before: butter made from sunflower seeds. Anyone tried it or have any info on it?
Thanks!
Oh my goodness…Dave C., You MUST try sunflower seed butter. It is DELICIOUS. You’ll never go back to almonds.well, you might, but I rarely do because almond butter is SO expensive!
Thanks, Hedda. That’s the appealing part of it to me. The sunbutter is available at the Navy commissary for a lot less than I pay when I take a trip to Sun Harvest (our Wild Oats/Whole Foods type store) to get the almond butter. I’m just curious how they stack up against each other nutritionally.
Be careful with the sunflower butter, that stuff is like the lovechild of crack & sugar. I don’t even put it on anything, just eat it right out of the jar in alarming amounts if I’m not paying attention.
Rodney,
Paprika is the only spice that I know of that is a nightshade. Curry powder is a mixture of spices intended to approximate the flavor of Indian food. As such, it typically contains some paprika. You’ll have to check your own jar of it to see if it has paprika. Prepared mustards, sausages, and lots of other foods have paprika too. Look for “spices” in the ingredients list, though that doesn’t automatically denote paprika, just that there is a mixture of stuff that they aren’t disclosing.
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
BTW paprika came in at 162.6, just under acai fruit pulp.
Hi - I mostly avoid nightshade plants. For me, eggplant and potatoes are the worst, but I do fine with tomatoes and peppers. 15 years ago I was getting cortisone injections behind my knees avery 3 months, but have had zero since cutting out potatoes.
Just a follow-up. I bought some of the sunflower butter. Heather, your warning is heeded! This stuff taste great and I could easily see myself just taking a spoon to the jar rather than spreading a little bit on my Fuji. I’m going to have to be careful while still in weight loss mode!
Nuts are great, but many Americans do have a weight problem. That is why I am so interested in fruit (i.e., acai, pomegranate, etc.). I know fruit also has calorie issues, but no direct fat content. Freeze dried acai powder is a real possibilty, as it contains no added sugar, etc. I still think it is better to eat the fruit/puilp/juice, but calories ned to be considered in some cases./
Note that I graphed all the USDA values on my site (see Anti-oxidant Info.).
Mark, what does “direct fat content” have to do with it if it’s about calories? I’m not sure I understand why fruit is better than nuts from your comment. Care to expand?
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
When you eat fat it stays fat (I know some fats are better than others), and fat is hard to burn. If you eat fruit, you have the chance to burn the sugar content before it becomes fat. Of course if you do not, then it does not matter.
So then it’s not calories, but macronutrients that matter? This sounds like the same flawed logic that begat the low-fat paradigm in the first place. The body can burn fat as well as glucose, hence how people maintain energy on a low-carb diet. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding where you’re going with this.
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
I took a look at your website, and assumed your reply would be something along that line ;).
I am open to alternative nutritional theories.
I think my only point is that the sugars (and hopefully a good mix of sugars, not sucrose) are immediately available to burn. Where the low-fat diet fails is that many people do not burn them off (I think).
If you ingest fat, and your body is not tuned to burn fat, it much more directly goes to your exsting fat deposits.
Do you see a problem with eating fruit (an honest question)?
Mark,
No, I don’t think there is anything wrong with fruit, per se. If you read my site, you’ll notice that I recommend real, natural foods. Fruits are part of that. However, we have to acknowledge that today’s fruits are nothing like the fruits we evolved with. Today’s fruits are bred to be sweet, meaning more sugar. They have less vitamins and more sugar today…basically less good stuff and more bad stuff. That means fruits are great replacements for grains, but poor replacements for vegetables.
The fact that sugars are immediately available to burn isn’t necessarily a good thing. The failing of the low-fat diet is that it plays games with hormones, insulin in particular. Blood sugar spikes and dips result in constant hunger.
The key factor is that the body SHOULD be tuned to burn fat. Which means you have to turn down the sugar and teach it to burn fat. I’m not sure that there’s any facts behind the statement that fat is deposited more directly into fat deposits. If anything, sugar (even natural sugars) raises the fat storage hormone insulin and cause a propensity to store fat.
Also, a diet based on whole, natural foods, a Paleo-style diet if you will, is hardly an “alternative nutritional theory.” It’s the diet your body evolved with.
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
I too, have celiac disease. I am intolerant of so many things, including nightshades and cruciferous veggies. Sweet potatoes and yams are not nightshades, even though they too, do not agree with me. I can’t remember where the yam comes from, but sweet potatoes are a member of the morning glory family.
Mark - thank you for covering this topic. I am so glad to see your site and others covering the possible problems with nightshades. I am highly intolerant to nightshades. I used to eat them on a regular basis but I do not eat any of them now. My symptoms ranged from arthritis, inflammation around my eyes and eye lids, acne and digestive issues. When I was in my mid-20s I had been diagnosed with osteo-arthritis. Within a month of not eating nightshades, the pain in my joints went away. I highly recommend if any one suspects that they are having problems with nightshades to try and get them out of your diet. It is well worth the effort.
Spices that are nightshades include:
Cayenne
Chili
Paprika
Pepper sauce
Pimento
Remember that anything with “pepper” or “chili” in the name, other than pepper ground from peppercorns is a nightshade. All of the commercial curries will have one form or another of pepper in them. And many of the things that you eat such as mayonnaise that just say “spices” include paprika or other nightshades.