Nightshade foods
by Craig Sams
In the diet of Europe and Asia, only one nightshade food was eaten until recent times: the aubergine or eggplant. Other nightshades such as henbane, thorn apple (datura stramonium), belladonna and mandrake were well known but their use was restricted to specific medical applications (sedative, anesthetic or poison) or in witchcraft.
Then, in the 1600s and 1700s food and drug crops based on nightshades were imported from the Americas and for the past 400 years have penetrated and become ubiquitous in the Western diet. These include tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes and chili peppers. It is not surprising that these novel foods, being nightshades, were regarded with suspicion at first and were slow to take hold in the European diet. They all contain nicotine in some form, although it may be named solanine (potatoes), tomatine (tomatoes), alpha-solanine (aubergine) or solanadine (chillies and capsicums).
It is now apparent that there are groups of people who cannot tolerate nightshades in their diets, wish to avoid them anyway or find that eliminating them helps alleviate a variety of mental, emotional and physical problems. The following groups of people avoid nightshades.
People with arthritis - Some researchers believe that arthritis is misdiagnosed in people who are in fact just suffering joint aches and swelling arising from consumption of nightshades. One in three arthritics react badly to nightshades. These individuals frequently have a sensitivity to the solanine chemicals present in these foods. It can take up to six months of exclusion of nightshades from the diet to achieve a beneficial effect.
Macrobiotics - since the 1960s, the macrobiotic diet has recommended avoidance of all nightshades. This proven diet for health and longevity is followed by celebrities such as Sadie Frost, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin of Coldplay and Madonna.
Children with eczema - for some children the elimination of nightshades from the diet helps clear eczema, particularly around the mouth.
Gastro Esophogal Reflux disease - consumption of nightshade vegetables, particularly tomatoes, can causes a reaction where the stomach contents are pushed back up the esophagus towards the throat with symptoms of heartburn, chest pain, choking while lying down and asthma symptoms when sleeping.
Those quitting smoking - some programmes to help people give up cigarettes also recommend giving up nightshade foods in order to completely eliminate low level nicotine intake and consequent re-addiction.
Blood group diet - Dr. Peter d'Adamo's Blood Type Diet recommends people of blood types A and B to avoid all nightshade foods. This represents about half the population of most European countries.
Cystitis, lupus, psoriasis - giving up nightshades can help relieve symptoms of cystitis, lupus and psoriasis.
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What are the Nightshade foods? How do they differ from each other? What are their origins?
Tobacco
The most powerful source of the nicotine alkaloid found in all nightshades became a popular drug in the early part of the 1900s, when mass produced cigarettes made them available to the expanding urban societies. Although the nicotine content of tobacco is much higher than that found in nightshade vegetables which are eaten, the practise of smoking reduces the amount of nicotine absorbed. The nicotine in a single cigarette, if taken direct into the bloodstream, would be fatal. Eating a single cigarette could cause severe illness. There are several instances of livestock poisoning where cattle or sheep have eaten nightshade plant leaves.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes were first brought to Europe from Mexico by Cortez and were first cultivated for food in Naples. The English regarded them as poisonous until the 1700s. They were introduced in America as an ornamental garden plant in 1808, but were not eaten as they were believed to cause stomach cancer and appendicitis. The botanical name for tomatoes 'Lycopersicon' means 'wolf peach' and refers to the association between werewolves, witchcraft and nightshades. Then, in 1820, Colonel Robert Johnson defied the advice of his physicians ("You will foam and froth at the mouth and double over") and ate tomatoes on the steps of Salem Courthouse, New Jersey, in front of a crowd of 2000 witnesses, the local sheriff waiting to arrest him for suicide. He survived and people began slowly to accept tomatoes as food. In the US and Northern Europe they really took off as food with the introduction of canning and canned soups and then rose again with the expansion of consumption of pizza and pasta in the past 30 years.
Potatoes
Potatoes were elevated in status when the celebrated Parmentier produced a galaxy of delicious potato recipes in 1785 to help relieve famine in Paris. Potatoes were cheap food for the masses - a peasant or worker could be fed from a quarter as much land if they ate potatoes instead of grain. Nonetheless, the French Revolution took place 4 years later. The Paris Commune declared potatoes 'Revolutionary food' while English landlords made them compulsory on their Irish estates.
Traditionally potatoes were kept in paper sacks and sold unwashed. This practice protected them from direct sunlight. The modern practice of washing potatoes and packing them in plastic bags allows light to affect the potato and stimulate its production of solanine, the nightshade alkaloid that, in nature, sickens animals that might dig up potatoes for food.
In 1976 the Department of Health, concerned about high levels of anencephaly and spina bifida, urged pregnant mothers to wear rubber gloves when preparing potatoes and to discard in their entirety any potatoes that showed signs of greening or of blight (black streaks in the potato). It is not enough to simply remove the discoloured part - the entire potato should not be eaten.
The solanine in potatoes is 4 times greater in the skin than in the rest of the potato. The fatal dose of solanine for an adult is 200-250 mg depending on body weight. Potatoes should not contain more than 20 mg of solanine per 100g, so it would take at least 1 Kg of potatoes (2.2 lbs) to be fatal.
Potato peels have been found to contain up to 180 mg of solanine per 100g, so a person consuming 150-200g of deep fried potato peels with a high solanine content could be at considerable risk. Potatoes that have been properly stored and are from low solanine varieties will only contain 7 mg/100g.
In 1996 the Committee on Toxicity stated that potatoes should not be eaten if they still taste bitter after the green parts and sprouts have been removed. However, few people taste-test a raw potato once it is peeled to assess its bitterness. Although spina bifida prevention now focuses on preconceptual consumption of folic acid, the world's highest incidence of spina bifida is in Ireland, where the wet climate encourages late potato blight. A study in Belfast showed that mothers who had given birth to a child with spina bifida or anencephaly could reduce the risk of a similar defect in the second child by 50% if they maintained a potato-free diet.
Peppers and capsicums
Peppers and capsicums were rare in the Western diet until the 1980s, when they became widely available as fresh vegetables and, in their hotter forms, in Asian cuisine and as hot sauce. Chillis replaced peppercorns in Indian cuisine from the 1650s onwards, after Portuguese traders brought plants and seeds from Brazil. Hot peppers are rich in capsaicin, which creates a burning sensation that affects pain receptor cells and causes them to release endorphins, the body's natural opiate-like painkillers, that create a temporary feeling of euphoria. Peppers and capsicums also contain solanine and solanadine, the nicotine compounds that are unique to nightshade plants.
Aubergines
Aubergines or eggplants most resemble in appearance the belladonna nightshade plant that may be their wild ancestor.
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So what is nicotine (solanine), the active alkaloid in nightshades? What are its effects? Nicotine acts as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
What are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors?
The chemical that transmits nerve impulses from one nerve ending to the next is acetylcholine - once it has transmitted a nerve impulse it has done its job and is no longer needed so it is broken down by an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase and recycled.
Nictotine/Solanine (or tomatine from tomatoes) slows the production of this acetylcholinesterase, so acetylcholine isn't broken down as fast as it's being produced.
Acetylcholine builds up causing a 'traffic jam' of stimulation at the receptor nerve endings. Or think of an orchestra where notes are played and then don't stop playing.
The nerve endings become overstimulated. At low levels this is mildly pleasurable and blurs sensitivity, but too much can be harmful.
This overstimulation can lead to muscle weakness, muscle twitching, hypertension, increased intestinal contractions and increased secretions of tear, sweat, saliva, gastric and intestinal glands.
All nightshade foods contain solanine, a strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. This is what makes excessive consumption of nightshade foods unsuitable for many people.
Certain pesticides, particularly organophosphate and carbamates, also work as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, achieving the same effect as solanine or nicotine. That's why they replaced nicotine as the insecticide of choice after World War 2, when organophosphates were used as nerve gas.
For a diet that seeks to maintain a strong and healthy nervous and neuromuscular system there is considerable evidence that the safest approach is to avoid nightshade vegetables and to eat food that is grown without the use of carbamate or organophosphate pesticides, i.e. organic food. Before the discovery of chemical pesticides, nicotine was a widely used insecticide. It kills insects in the same way, but chemical sprays are cheaper and longer-lasting. Until they were replaced by hormones and antibiotics, organophosphate pesticides were also used by livestock farmers as growth-promoters - the mechanism whereby they cause muscle weakness and increase secretions of digestive fluids also causes animals to exercise less and eat more, thereby fattening them up more quickly.
Why do people love nightshades?
What is it that makes tobacco so addictive? Why is it that sometimes only chips will do, or we are gagging for a pizza? Nicotine, in small quantities, by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine, stimulates increased activity of the acetylcholine receptors in the brain and this leads to increased flow of adrenaline. This increases the heart rate, blood pressure and leads to increased blood glucose levels. This mild increase in energy level is achieved, along with a reduced nervous sensitivity; producing a combination of calmness and stimulation. This provides short term relief in the face of the stresses and pressures of modern life. In the longer term it puts a strain on the nervous system as the receptors are being overstimulated.
Why don't we eat tobacco?
The leaves of all nightshades contain high levels of nicotine. One could, at a pinch, smoke potato or tomato leaves. A potent insecticide can be made with tomato leaves. The levels of nicotine in the leaves of nightshade plants are much higher than in nightshade fruits or tubers. 8-10 cigarettes, if eaten, would be enough to kill a person. First time smokers experience dreadful nausea but gradually develop a resistance to the effects of nicotine and this is how addiction develops - more and more is needed to satisfy the craving.
Why are nightshades legal?
If the nightshade foods were to be introduced to the Western diet today, under current Novel Foods regulations they would have to be tested for safety. It is unlikely that they would be permitted to enter the food supply, solely because of their nicotine (solanine) content. However, like cigarettes, they slipped into our diet despite some voices in opposition and have assumed a major role in our nutrition and health, a role that, in a free society, should be accepted.
However, moderation in all things is a worthy principle and it could be argued that, in our diet we have perhaps gone too far down the road of nightshade acceptance.
So how can i enjoy a nice bit of ketchup?!
There's a fantastic tasting range of nightshade-free organic foods called Nomato. They're from the same guys that brought us Green & Black's chocolate, so you can imagine they taste amazing. There's Nomato pasta sauce, Nomato ketchup, Nomato soup, and Nomato veggie chili beans. So you can have a bit of what you fancy without the nicotine alkaloids found in tomatoes and other nightshades.
Nightshade vegetables are actually all fruit! We eat them as vegetables (like in salads, side dishes, and not generally snacking out of hand or in desserts) so we consider them vegetables but they are indeed all fruit! What makes a fruit? It's all in the seeds and germination - fruits have seeds that develop from the "ovaries" of flowers. You'll also note that fruit get picked or snipped and leave the plant alive while vegetables, well, we're eating the entire plant there so there's nothing left. Other popular vegetables that are really fruit include okra, cucumber, summer squash and hard squash. Fruitarians do eat these "vegetables" as well as nightshade "vegetables" because of that.
Another discussion reports that:
Nightshades are very yin because of how fast, when and where they grow, structure, and the time of their activity. They contain toxins that destroy red blood cells and have been connected with a long laundry list of other problems; kidney stones, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, breathing problems, digestive problems, skin problems, nerve problems/paralysis, and energy problems are some of the negatives.
And from another article titled
"All about Nightshades:........"
Why Eliminate Tomatoes and Potatoes?
According to macrobiotic theory, tomatoes and potatoes create a natural balance to meat, dairy, fats, and the excess salt found in the Standard American Diet. The chemical and energetic qualities of potatoes and tomatoes produce extreme, expansive effects which can expand and weaken the bones, joints, teeth, gums, and all body organs, especially for those who are sensitive and allergic to them.
In a study published in the Journal of the International Academy of Preventive medicine, of the 5000 arthritis sufferers who eliminated Nightshade, seventy percent reported relief from aches, pains, and disfigurement.
Why Do We Crave Nightshades So Much?
There is a reason why people crave nightshades. Potatoes and tomatoes are very high in potassium and help counter the high sodium of animal foods. Nightshades may aid in the digestion of fatty, dense proteins. Consider America's favorite meals: meat and potatoes, and pizza with cheese and tomatoes. We crave these combinations of foods because our bodies unconsciously strive to achieve balance.
Extreme foods have extreme effects. In macrobiotic terminology, potatoes and tomatoes are extremely yin and expansive. Animal protein is heavy, salty, and yang. Therefore, potatoes help balance the salt and protein of meat. Tomatoes, which are astringent and acidic, assist in the digestion and discharge of dairy products and help counterbalance the greasy query of the fatty, over salted cheese
Consider some of America's favorite meals: cheeseburger, french fried potatoes, soda, and ice cream, or steak, baked potato, coffee, and cheesecake. Each of these meals contains a high protein animal food, served with nightshades and sugar. This is a lethal combination that depletes calcium and other minerals from the bones and body. For those who are sensitive and allergic to nightshades, they can weaken the bones, joints, teeth, and all body organs. More than 50 million Americans have arthritis and more than 60% of women over age 65 have osteoporosis. Add to this statistic the epidemic quantity of Americans with back pain, knee and foot disorders, and tooth decay, which are all due, in large part, to helps prevent bone weakness. The macrobiotic diet contains whole foods that are extremely high in natural minerals and include: grains, beans, vegetables and sea vegetables, sea salt, and miso. Macrobiotic foods strengthen, maintain, and even rebuild bones. Recent theories now have begun to view arthritis as a deficiency and/or depletion of calcium in the body; a theory more in line with the macrobiotic perspective.
How Do I Know If I Am Allergic to Nightshades?
If you have pain, eliminate nightshades. Keep a daily journal and record of your bone and joint pain. Learn to prepare and eat a balanced, high mineral macrobiotic diet. In the popular book Eat Right, Live Longer, Neal Barnard, M.D., founder of The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, outlines an elimination diet in which nightshades are avoided for four weeks. Dr. Sherry Rogers, M.D., tells us that the results take time. In her book Wellness Against All Odds, she states, "For many, no relief comes until the diet has been totally free of all of these (nightshades), for at least 6-12 weeks. So you can appreciate why, if someone gives them up for a couple of weeks and sees no improvement, that he could easily be convinced to abandon the diet and indulge in his favorites again, never to discover the culprit."
Further Scientific Research to "Bone Up On"
Nightshades play a major part in bone and joint strength. Researcher Winifred Conkling states in Natural Medicine for Arthritis, "Eliminating vegetables from the nightshade family can promote cartilage repair." Dr. Collin H. Dong developed arthritis after moving to America from China and adopting a typical western diet. The research in his book New Hope for the Arthritic concludes, "My dramatic recovery convinced me that rheumatic diseases are caused by chemical poisoning put into our food ... and by allergy to certain foods." If you are healing from disease or are in pain, especially in the bones and joints, such as wrists, hips, and knees, or back, teeth, or gums, avoid nightshades. If you wish to have the strongest body possible, then reduce, avoid, or eliminate nightshades.
Lino Stanchich, Macrobiotic Educator, Licensed Nutritionist, (FL), Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist, (NC), serves on the faculty of the Kushi Institute and is a member of the Kushi Institute Macrobiotic Educators Association. Mr. Stanchich, a multi-lingual educator who has established several macrobiotic learning centers in the United States, is the author of the popular book Power Eating Program, You Are How You Eat and can be reached at 828-299-8657.
Sweet Potatoes aren’t in nightshade family, they are part of the morning glory family.
From:
http://www.organicfood.co.uk/inspiration/craig_nightshadefoods.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KWZ/is_5_4/ai_111734421
http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/nightshade.htm
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