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No Nightshade Diet

Jun 14, 2011 | By Annie Summers
No Nightshade Diet
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You can safely eliminate nightshade plants from your diet, but since many of them are nutritious, you should consider replacing the missing nutrients. The main condition that may be helped by a nightshade-free diet is rheumatoid arthritis, according to Roger French in "New Vegetarian and Natural Health."

History

Nightshade plants have been used for many hundreds of years. The deadly nightshade or belladonna is an extremely toxic plant. It is still used medically, as are other nightshade plant drugs such as scopolamine and hyoscyamine. Atropine from belladonna was isolated in the 1830s. M.R. Lee in "The Journal Of The Royal College Of Physicians Of Edinburgh" wrote, "When pure atropine became available, it caused a large number of deaths, whether by accident, suicide or homicide."

Types

Toxic alkaloids occur in all of the nightshade family plants. Two alkaloid groups are solanines and tropanes. These compounds are found in varying amounts in nightshade plants and in varying amounts in different parts of the plants. The alkaloids used as drugs are primarily tropanes. Tobacco is a nightshade that produces the alkaloid nicotine. The coca plant produces the alkaloid cocaine. Both have medicinal uses as well as being popular recreational drugs.

Considerations

Most people can eat the edible nightshade plants with no harmful effects, and many of them provide good nutrition. But as with all chemicals, you may be sensitive to some or most of the nightshade alkaloids. To make it more difficult, there is a mixture in these plants. Nicotine is found in some nightshade plants other than tobacco, for example -- potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant contain small amounts of nicotine, and it occurs in the coca plant along with cocaine. Just as you may be more sensitive to the alkaloids in nightshade plants, you may be more sensitive to specific alkaloids.

Identification

One characteristic of alkaloids that makes their presence known is a bitter taste. But you can reduce the alkaloids you consume from nightshades. The leaves and stems of the plants should be removed. If a potato is green under the skin, this part should be removed or the potato discarded. The color itself is not harmful but may show an increased amount of solanines. If an edible nightshade plant tastes bitter, this indicates more of the alkaloids are present.

Procedure

If you suspect that you are sensitive to the nightshade alkaloid toxins, you can eliminate them from your diet for several weeks. Lino Stanchich, a Florida nutritionist, suggests in the "New Life Journal" that you eliminate suspect foods for up to six weeks. If there is noticeable and sustained improvement, you can cautiously add them back one at a time. If you find that your symptoms return or worsen, you may want to make the no-nightshade diet permanent. You should discuss any major diet changes with your physician or a nutritionist, especially if your health is fragile.

Nightshade Foods

The most common foods in the nightshade family are white fleshed potatoes regardless of the color of the skin, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers of any color, cayenne pepper, chile peppers and hot peppers. The leaves of eggplant are highly toxic and never should be eaten. Pimento and paprika are also nightshades. Black and white pepper are not nightshade plants, nor are yams and sweet potatoes. Your nutrition adviser can help you find other plants that may be in the nightshade family and help you find nutritious and tasty substitutes for the ones you can't eat.

References

Article reviewed by Alan Craig Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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