Acupuncture Blog Chicago: Nightshade Vegetables...

White (not sweet) potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne, and Tabasco sauce are classified as nightshade foods. The ongoing question is, "Do nightshade vegetables increase joint problems such as arthritis?" The controversy stems from alkaloids, a particular compound found in nightshade foods. Whether alkaloids can contribute to joint damage is not clear from current levels of research. Some researchers have speculated that nightshade alkaloids can contribute to excessive loss of calcium from bone and excessive depositing of calcium in soft tissue. For this reason, these researchers have recommended elimination of nightshade foods from the meal plans of all individuals with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or other joint problems like gout.

Because the amount of alkaloids is very low in nightshade foods when compared with other nightshade plants, health problems from nightshade foods may only occur in individuals who are especially sensitive to these alkaloid substances. Non-sensitive individuals may be able to eat these foods, especially in cooked form, without problem. If you are not sure about your sensitivity, but you have an existing joint problem like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or gout, temporary 2-3 week elimination of nightshade foods from your meal plan may be a worthwhile step to determine if these foods could be contributing to your joint problems

"Nightshade" is actually the common name for more than 2,800 species of plants, herbs, shrubs, and trees, many with very different properties and constituents. Nightshades are actually more famous as drugs than as foods for example, mandrake, tobacco, and belladonna.

Acupuncture Blog Chicago

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Comments: 14

Diana B. Sep 30, 2008, 3:00pm EDT

I guess if they long enough, they can find something bad about anything.
I figure if I eat Non-GMO organic foods and I eat a variety of them - I will be fine.
Usually these "studies" are done with a very very high percentage of the substance used and then they likely were not testing the pure/Non GMO/Organic ones either.

Thanks for sharing what you found out. It is always good to keep checking to make sure our diets are healthy.

Organically Yours,
Diana

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Amber M. Sep 30, 2008, 3:03pm EDT

interesting

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Carol B Sep 30, 2008, 3:26pm EDT

Thanks for the info.

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Stephannie H. Sep 30, 2008, 4:10pm EDT

thanks for sharing with us

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Donald H. Sep 30, 2008, 4:42pm EDT

There rub here is that capsicum a chemical found in peppers is used rather extensivle to treat arthritis....! To date there is no significant evidence to link arthritic/rheumatoid diseases, damage, etc. to the nightshade family of plants. There are suggestions from highly suspect sources, suppositions that cannot be proven but no hard evidence to even suggest a correlation between nightshade vegetables & this sort of problem.

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Heather ~of the Whippets~ M. Oct 5, 2008, 6:38pm EDT

Which studies were these? Who funded the research?

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Jennifer D. Jan 11, 2009, 7:35pm EST

For more information on healthy foods and Chinese Medicine check out my blog
www.acupuncturechicago.blogspot.com or my website www.tcm007.com

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K D. Jul 22, 2009, 5:05pm EDT

This is interesting information. Some of the foods on this list are supposed to be very good for us.

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Jennifer D. Jul 22, 2009, 7:29pm EDT

Actually these foods can be great for us and have healthy benefits. However if someone has arthritis or gout they might want to try avoiding nightshade vegetables and see if their condition improves.

Karen E. Oct 21, 2009, 4:12pm EDT

I do have patients that have gone on elimination diets and seen good improvement in their symptoms. I suppose you may say that they did their own research on managing their own symptoms. We are such uniquely balanced creatures that any substance, medications or food may not agree with us all in the same way.

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Alison H. Oct 21, 2009, 5:29pm EDT

I agree with Karen, we are all so different on many levels, including chemically, that we have to do our own trials as food sensitivities are unique to each individual. These foods DO cause me to have joint pain if I eat them. I find I am okay with small amounts occasionally (and cooked is better than raw), but if I eat them consistently, I wake up in the morning with pain.