Nightshades

[Zachs]

[ moderator edit: moved from Warning On Potatoes: High In Saponins ]


Best to avoid all nightshades, imo.

 

[Kasper]

Best to avoid all nightshades, imo.

Why?

 

[Zachs]

Why?

All nightshades are anywhere from agrivating to poisonous. Nightshades are among the top causes of inflammatory diseases.

Just because you don't immediately feel negative effects from well cooked potatoes, doesn't mean it's not there.

I think the tropical alternative, the white flesh sweet potato is a safer food.

 

[Kasper]

@Zachs Do you have any study that shows that potatoes are causing inflammatory diseases?

 

[papaya]

nightshades r high in mold

 

[tara]

nightshades r high in mold

Moldy nightshades are high in mold. I'm suspicious of canned tomato puree and paste. Do you have any reason to think fresh or well-stored nightshades are high in mold?

 

[papaya]

i went to a nutrition school & that's what they said. btw, this school was also very big on bone broth & i think is the reason it's become so popular.

 

[tara]

i went to a nutrition school & that's what they said. btw, this school was also very big on bone broth & i think is the reason it's become so popular.

Did your nutrition school provide you with any references to support this about nightshades? (There's a bit of evidence around here on the benefits of collagen.)

 

[papaya]

no, if i remember correctly(it was a long time ago) it had to do w/the fact that they grow at night. btw, a produce guy at 1 of the health food stores i used to go to told me that potatoes have so much mold on them & sometimes they have to wash them before putting them out.

 

[tara]

no, if i remember correctly(it was a long time ago) it had to do w/the fact that they grow at night. btw, a produce guy at 1 of the health food stores i used to go to told me that potatoes have so much mold on them & sometimes they have to wash them before putting them out.

Sounds like your health food store had a supply or storage problem with their potatoes. I occasionally find a little mold on the outside of spuds I buy, but not usually. I figure peeling well should eliminate it. I think a lot of people here peel their spuds thoroughly.

 

[papaya]

maybe, the convo i was having w/him was organic vs conventional & he told me the organic produce tends to have mold. that's very smart, before this forum i had always thought that the skin was the healthiest part of the potato.

 

[tara]

maybe, the convo i was having w/him was organic vs conventional & he told me the organic produce tends to have mold. that's very smart, before this forum i had always thought that the skin was the healthiest part of the potato.

I think plants that are grown under strongly nourishing conditions - high brix produce with higher nutritional value - are more resistant to mold and bacterial infection than low brix produce. Being organic may indicate less toxic pesticides etc, but it doesn't guarantee the food is grown on nutrient rich soils.
Maybe there is also factor to do with turnover - maybe the more expensive organic produce hangs around in storage longer?

 

[papaya]

very true!

 

[tara]

before this forum i had always thought that the skin was the healthiest part of the potato.

Me too. :)

 

[Luann]

i went from "yay potassium" to "ew, iron!"

 

[David PS]

. . . any references to support this about nightshades?

There are references, but I do not think there are any double blind controlled studies. Norman F. Childers was an agricultural professor at Rutgers University and he wrote a book about nightshades and health at least as early as 1977. see The Nightshades and Health: Norman Franklin Childers, Gerald M. Russo: Amazon.com: Books

Linus Pauling was a 2 time Nobel prize winner and he got no respect from the medical/pharmaceutical industry because he wasn't a medical doctor. I suspect that similar logic can be used to explain why the medical profession has not embraced Childer's observations.

Nightshades are a real problem for me. My main symptom was morning stiffness in my fingers. It came about gradually when I was in my 50's. I initially thought it was just a normal part of aging. Giving up nightshades helped a lot. Potato starch is added to some prepared food and I have to read food labels to avoid it.

Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in the nightshade family. It turns out that solanine is found to a lesser extent in other foods including blueberries and huckleberries. Eliminating blueberries as well as nightshades from my diet completely solved the morning stiffness in my fingers.

The main nightshades are shown in the cover of Childer's book see https://www.dirtdoctor.com/pics/content_img.1029.img.jpg

also, the website The Arthritis Nightshades Research Foundation has been established to research why and how usage of the Solanaceae is causing arthritis in humans, and the relation they may have to other serious problems such as: heart aliments, cancer, circulatory problems, stroke, fast aging, Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, crippling, and deterioration of major organs in the body."> <meta>

 

[tara]

There are references, but I do not think there are any double blind controlled studies. N

Hi David,
I was asking about the claim that nightshades contain a lot of mould.
I know the solanine is poisonous. I do believe that some people are sensitive to nightshades, and do best to avoid them. How long has it taken you to symptoms with nightshades to symptom relief when excluding them? I'm pretty sure I've from time to time without any potatoes or tomatoes, and not noticed significant symptom improvement for myself, though I don't tend to joint pain, swelling, stiffness particularly.
It's always difficult to isolate factors, esp. when there are so many, some of them uncontrollable, and time lags can apply to some.

 

[David PS]

I was asking about the claim that nightshades contain a lot of mould.

Please accept my apologies. I often miss the mark when it comes to answering questions. I consider it to be an occupational hazard that is now affecting other aspects of my life. I'll try to do better this time.

Time frames for eliminating solanine from my system varies. According to Dr. Childers, nightshade sensitivity is a progressive loss of the ability to metabolize “solanine alkaloids”. My experience is that the longer I have been continuous eating nightshades (and the more in my system) the longer it takes to obtain relief. I seem to recall reading that most people experience relief with 3 months but that it could take up to 3 years to get the solanine completely out of one's system. It was very discouraging. However, I saw great improvements within 6 weeks.

This past January, I was a food prisoner at my Aunt's house in British Columbia. She is 92 years old, had just lost her husband and was living alone. I was trying not to upset her and I the ate the food that she put on my plate. It included potatoes and it took 4 evening meals with potatoes before the morning stiffness started to return to my fingers. I explained the issue to her and it took only about 4 days of clean eating for my fingers to feel normal again. Low levels of solanine may have still been in my system, but I had no symptoms.

My guess is that the length of time is strictly a “try it and see” situation. The time frame is long. The key is to eliminate all sources of solanine. Here are 2 links with overlapping suggestions of food sources to that need to be eliminated if you suspect solanine is an issue for you (which you indicated it is not).
Struggling with Lyme disease » Blog Archive » My listing of Nightshades and foods that contain Solanine
http://www.backtonormalphysicaltherapy.com/NIghtshades.pdf

 

[Mary Pruter]

Does this include purple potatoes? If there's mole, will soaking them in vinegar and scrubbing make much of a difference?

 

[Kashuba]

I respect that nightshades are not for everyone, but the older I get, the more I crave chilies. I don't eat potatoes, tomatoes, or eggplants regularly, but I cannot pass a day happily now without the heat contributed by hot peppers. Substance P is my preferred drug of choice that diminishes discomforts that accrue with mileage!
Review: Capsaicin may have important potential for promoting vascular and metabolic health