Nightshades

[Newtoitall]

Can someone who knows for sure they have issues with Nightshades mainly potato's tell me what happens if they consume potato's how long does it take to see side effects, what are the side effects and how long does it last?

is it like..wheat is to celiac?

or it's own intolerance, because I am so confused, I don't know how to tell if I'm being CC'd or I have issues with potato's

[txplowgirl]

Hi Newtoitall,

This is what I have found in my research of Nightshades. I hope it helps answer some of your questions.

As for me the nightshades causes bone, joint and muscle swelling and pain. I eat a baked potato about once every 6 weeks and be ok but any more than that and I hurt bad. It usually takes mine overnight to show up, lasts anywhere from a day to three, then goes away. It is a different food intolerance not related to wheat at all.

Again, I hope this helps.

What are nightshades and in which foods are they found?

Overview - the basics about nightshade foods

Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne, and Tabasco sauce are classified as nightshade foods. A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function. 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. Since cooking only lowers alkaloid content of nightshade foods by about 40-50%, highly sensitive individuals may want to avoid this category of food altogether, while non-sensitive individuals may be able to eat these foods, especially in cooked form, without problem. Green and sprouted spots on potatoes usually reflect high alkaloid content, even though the green itself involves the presence of chlorophyll, not alkaloids. For this reason, sprouted areas should always be thoroughly removed before potato cooking, or the potatoes should be discarded altogether.

Nightshades - a description

Nightshades are a diverse group of foods, herbs, shrubs, and trees that have fascinated scientists, doctors, and nutritionists for centuries. "Nightshade" is actually the common name used to describe over 2,800 species of plants, many with very different properties and constituents. All of the plants, however, belong to a scientific order called Polemoniales, and to a scientific family called Solanaceae. To give you an idea of the diversity associated with this group of plants, consider the fact that tobacco, morning glory, potato, and tomato are all classified as nightshades.

Pharmaceutical nightshades

Nightshades are actually more famous as drugs than as foods. The best-known nightshades when it comes to pharmacy include mandrake (Mandragora officinum), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and belladonna, also called deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).

What has interested scientists most about nightshades in a pharmacological sense is a group of compounds in them called alkaloids. The alkaloids found in nightshades are not only the basis for consideration of nightshades as drugs, but also for understanding adverse reactions to nightshades when they are eaten as food. Adverse reactions to nightshade alkaloids are discussed further in the health effects section of this nightshade profile.

Foods considered to be nightshades

Nightshade vegetables and fruit

The most famous food members of the nightshade family include potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum), many species of sweet and hot peppers (all species of Capsicum, including Capsicum annum), and eggplant (Solanum melongena). Less well know, but equally genuine nightshade foods include ground cherries (all species of Physalis), tomatillos (Physallis ixocapra), garden huckleberry (Solanum melanocerasum), tamarillos (Cyphomandra betacea), pepinos (Solanum muricatum), and naranjillas (Solanum quitoense). Pimentos (also called pimientos) belong to the nightshade family, and usually come from the pepper plant Capsicum annum. Pimento cheese and pimento-stuffed olives are therefore examples of foods that should be classified as containing nightshade components. Although the sweet potato, whose scientific name is Ipomoea batatas, belongs to the same plant order as the nightshades (Polemoniales), it does not belong to the Solanaceae family found in this order, but to a different plant family called Convolvulaceae.

Nightshade spices

The seasoning paprika is also derived from Capsicum annum, the common red pepper, and the seasoning cayenne comes from another nightshade, Capsicum frutenscens. Tabasco sauce, which contains large amounts of Capsicum annum, should also be considered as a nightshade food. It may be helpful to note here that black pepper, which belongs to the Piperaceae family, is not a member of the nightshade foods.

Ways in which nightshades may affect health

Alkaloids - The chemistry of nightshades

Most of the health research on nightshades has focused on a special group of substances found in all nightshades called alkaloids. In chemical terms, alkaloids are easy to identify because they all have at least one ring-like structure that contains the element nitrogen. Plants produce alkaloids as a regular part of their biochemical activity, and these alkaloids are primarily designed to help protect the plants from insects that would otherwise eat them.

Four basic types of alkaloids are found in nightshade plants. These types are: (1) the steroid alkaloids, which contain a fairly complicated fused ring structure and are found in most food nightshades including potato and tomato; (to compare the value of one of the most notable steroid alkaloid -solanine-in the foods in which it is most concentrated, please refer to Table 1)(2) the tropane alkaloids, all originating from the simple amino acid ornithine and found in fewer of the overall nightshades, but more extensively researched due to their strong drug-like properties; (3) the pyrrolizidine alkaloid and (4) the indole alkaloids, both important groups from a drug standpoint.

[Newtoitall]

wow that's a fantastic bit of info right there, So the digestive issues I seem to have from to much potato could be a sensitivity to the alk content ?

or should I be assuming I've been CC'd

thanks for the fantasticly detailed info lol

[mushroom]

Nightshades are also very high in a protein substance called lectins, and that is what I seem to be intolerant of. My symptoms with potatoes have normally been hives and rashes, but lately all lectins have been causing atrial fibrillation (including a few red chili flakes )

[cassP]

also, u may want to consider that some of these nightshades are high in fructose & fructans. i avoid potatoes, and i eat peppers in very small quantities. tomatoes are usually fine for me as long as i dont overdo it. because i have problems with fructose- too much of tomatoes, and moderate amounts of peppers can give me some bloating & discomfort. potatoes affect me worse- sometimes i could be fine- other time- intestinal cramping and pain. i usually DONT eat potatoes.

also- potatoes used to make my joints hurt. i guess that would be a nightshade or a lectin thing. oh, i also avoid eggplant.

[Newtoitall]

Yeah the fructose seems to punish me too, I thought potato's were ok =/ but there is just NOTHING to eat if I cut that out I'm left with...chicken/beef and.. some veggie mix of green/yellow beans and baby carrots -.-

[chasbari]

If I eat any potatoes my rheumatoid arthritis flares withing a day and will last for the better part of a week. I stay away anymore. Just not worth it.

[cassP]

Yeah the fructose seems to punish me too, I thought potato's were ok =/ but there is just NOTHING to eat if I cut that out I'm left with...chicken/beef and.. some veggie mix of green/yellow beans and baby carrots -.-

it is entirely frustrating, between all the fructose/fructans AND legumes that cramp me up, i JUST developed an allergy to raw carrots. AND im trying to avoid the certain vegetables that inhibit the thyroid

but what about rice?? and tinkyada rice pasta also, most of the time sweet potatoes r fine with me.

and fish, and turkey? zucchini's pretty safe too.

[RiceGuy]

If I eat a nightshade, like a potato, the nerve/muscle pain gets so bad I can't walk for about two weeks. Literally. Needless to say it's been quite awhile since I've even tried any. I prefer to walk.

[Newtoitall]

it is entirely frustrating, between all the fructose/fructans AND legumes that cramp me up, i JUST developed an allergy to raw carrots. AND im trying to avoid the certain vegetables that inhibit the thyroid

but what about rice?? and tinkyada rice pasta also, most of the time sweet potatoes r fine with me.

and fish, and turkey? zucchini's pretty safe too.

that's so weird o.O I read on sites about Fructose Malabsorbtion that yellow/new white/ annd something else I forgot are all no no's because they have higher then average fructose levels, I'm pretty sure the yellow potato I tried, was delicious and pretty quickly caused me intestinal issues =/

Rice I can't for the life of me figure out, the absolute 100% gluten free rice spaghetti I buy seems alright, but Old bens rice made me pretty sick, prolly from CC

y'know what I want more then anything right now.. is gum..buy every kind of gum has something in it -.-

[cassP]

that's so weird o.O I read on sites about Fructose Malabsorbtion that yellow/new white/ annd something else I forgot are all no no's because they have higher then average fructose levels, I'm pretty sure the yellow potato I tried, was delicious and pretty quickly caused me intestinal issues =/

Rice I can't for the life of me figure out, the absolute 100% gluten free rice spaghetti I buy seems alright, but Old bens rice made me pretty sick, prolly from CC

y'know what I want more then anything right now.. is gum..buy every kind of gum has something in it -.-

ya- i would assume uncle ben's would prolly have cc- they have SO MANY boxes with the vermicelli in them. i always by rice that's certified gluten free... and ive bought several brands of basmati & texmati and have been fine (no uncle ben's).

i also live on Tinkyada brown rice pasta- never a problem.

there's a gum called "Glee" and it's pretty free of everything... tho it really gets stuck to my teeth.. i mostly stick to gluten free mints now.. or a breath strip.

[Evangeline]

I am nightshade intolerant. Apparently, a "night shade allergy" will go away over time if the food is avoided. However, an intolerance will not go away.

I didn't feel like I had any reaction to nightshade vegetables but removed them from my diet just to be careful. I did this for about two months. When I re-added them to my diet, my reaction was HUGE. I ate a raw tomato and my stomach squeezed it back up my esophagus and I vomited it back after about 20 seconds. I am hard-headed so I tried to eat another tomato the next day and about 20 minutes later I had stomach cramps for the rest of the day. I was also in the WORST HUMOR for the next three days. My facial acne also became more inflamed.

My reaction to potatoes was less apparent. The day after eating potatoes, I become a bit depressed and I get the boo-hoos. My hair became more oily and my acne became more inflamed.