I'm always on the look-out for new information when it comes to plants, nutrition and health.
Some time ago a friend was telling me how he avoids the nightshade vegetables because they aggravate his inflammatory conditions.
I had resolved to do some research on the nightshade vegetables... but time passed and still I hadn't researched the topic, my friend and I touched on the subject again; he mentioned that capsicum was one of the nightshade vegetables he avoids.
I remarked that I understood capsicum to be anti inflammatory. This piqued my interest further still and I eventually got down to researching the nightshade vegetables...
The nightshade family is called Solanaceae and consists of well over 25,000 species.
Two important genera of the family are the genus Solanum and the genus Capsicum; these are the most economically important and contain the potato, the tomato, aubergine, chili peppers and bell peppers to name a few.
First of all I verified my belief that capsicum is indeed considered to be anti-inflammatory by herbalists.
I did, in fact, locate an African Health Sciences article providing scientific data to back this up - Conclusions of this paper are that "Capsaicin in both forms (CFE and CPF) produced anti-inflammatory effects that were comparable to diclofenac"[1] - diclofenac is commonly known as Voltaren/Voltarol[5] ... It may be concluded that capsaicin has both analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties."[1]
A quick search of The Web reveals that there is indeed widespread confusion about whether the nightshade vegetables are inflammatory or anti-inflammatory.
As with all things it pays to consider who is saying what. For instance a company selling blenders might assure one that everything is OK with the nightshades and there is nothing to worry about.[2] And, this may well be true for most people.
On the other hand, a doctor of functional medicine [MICHAEL ANDREW ARATA, MD functional medicine] might say otherwise:- "In fact, one in three arthritics will react badly to nightshades. Some researchers believe that arthritis is often misdiagnosed in people who may in fact only be experiencing the effects of nightshade consumption."[3]
With such polarised views evident on the subject I set out to try and make some sense of it... It seemed to me that there must be something that makes certain people sensitive to nightshade vegetables whereas others are not affected.
Alkaloid solanine ~ molecular structure[4]
The obvious candidate seems to be alkaloids; variously present in nightshades from solanine and colchicine to atropine and nicotine. Whilst colchicine is actually used to treat acute gout, there seems to be widespread belief that some alkaloids present in nightshade vegetables do exacerbate inflammatory diseases but perhaps only in sensitive individuals.
The functional medicine Website noted above states that "For those that suffer from arthritis or an arthritis related disease such as lupus, rheumatism, and other musculoskeletal pain disorders members of the Solanaceae family of flowering plants, more commonly known as nightshades, may be adversely affecting their health."[3]
So, whilst many people perceive a benefit in avoiding nightshade vegetables, others happily consume them apparently without issue and consequently can enjoy their health benefits.
In my experience the best way to approach such a scenario for yourself is by trial and error. This makes sense because each individual person is different and may react differently to ingested substances.
Introducing The Nightshade Challenge; this requires stopping all consumption of the nightshade veggies for a period of three months whilst carefully observing the effect that has on your well-being. Checking all labels and avoiding fillers like potato starch and unidentified ingredients such as "spices" - sound like a challenge?
If you are troubled by an inflammatory condition, it might be worth putting yourself up to The Nightshade Challenge...
Nightshade vegetables - friend or foe? I think it depends ;)
An article by Tim Cooper
Copyright (c) 2017
References:
1. Comparative anti-inflammatory properties of Capsaicin and ethyl-aAcetate extract of Capsicum frutescens linn [Solanaceae] in rats
[downloaded (AEST:20171231:0311) from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3824481/]
2. Vitamix - Nightshade Vegetables: Setting the Record Straight
[https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/nightshade-vegetables-setting-the-record-straight]
3. THE DANGERS OF NIGHTSHADES: WHY EATING THE WRONG FRUITS AND VEGETABLES CAN MAKE PAIN WORSE
[http://drarata.com/the-dangers-of-nightshades-why-eating-the-wrong-fruits-and-vegetables-can-make-pain-worse/]
4. Extract from Solanine structure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine#/media/File:Solanine_3d_structure.png
5. Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug taken or applied to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in certain conditions. It is supplied as or contained in medications under a variety of trade names. (Wikipedia) Names such as Voltaren and Voltarol which are registered trade marks.
All registered trademarks are acknowledged as being owned by those who own them.
I had resolved to do some research on the nightshade vegetables... but time passed and still I hadn't researched the topic, my friend and I touched on the subject again; he mentioned that capsicum was one of the nightshade vegetables he avoids.
I remarked that I understood capsicum to be anti inflammatory. This piqued my interest further still and I eventually got down to researching the nightshade vegetables...
The nightshade family is called Solanaceae and consists of well over 25,000 species.
Two important genera of the family are the genus Solanum and the genus Capsicum; these are the most economically important and contain the potato, the tomato, aubergine, chili peppers and bell peppers to name a few.
First of all I verified my belief that capsicum is indeed considered to be anti-inflammatory by herbalists.
I did, in fact, locate an African Health Sciences article providing scientific data to back this up - Conclusions of this paper are that "Capsaicin in both forms (CFE and CPF) produced anti-inflammatory effects that were comparable to diclofenac"[1] - diclofenac is commonly known as Voltaren/Voltarol[5] ... It may be concluded that capsaicin has both analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties."[1]
As with all things it pays to consider who is saying what. For instance a company selling blenders might assure one that everything is OK with the nightshades and there is nothing to worry about.[2] And, this may well be true for most people.
On the other hand, a doctor of functional medicine [MICHAEL ANDREW ARATA, MD functional medicine] might say otherwise:- "In fact, one in three arthritics will react badly to nightshades. Some researchers believe that arthritis is often misdiagnosed in people who may in fact only be experiencing the effects of nightshade consumption."[3]
With such polarised views evident on the subject I set out to try and make some sense of it... It seemed to me that there must be something that makes certain people sensitive to nightshade vegetables whereas others are not affected.
Alkaloid solanine ~ molecular structure[4]
The functional medicine Website noted above states that "For those that suffer from arthritis or an arthritis related disease such as lupus, rheumatism, and other musculoskeletal pain disorders members of the Solanaceae family of flowering plants, more commonly known as nightshades, may be adversely affecting their health."[3]
So, whilst many people perceive a benefit in avoiding nightshade vegetables, others happily consume them apparently without issue and consequently can enjoy their health benefits.
In my experience the best way to approach such a scenario for yourself is by trial and error. This makes sense because each individual person is different and may react differently to ingested substances.
Introducing The Nightshade Challenge; this requires stopping all consumption of the nightshade veggies for a period of three months whilst carefully observing the effect that has on your well-being. Checking all labels and avoiding fillers like potato starch and unidentified ingredients such as "spices" - sound like a challenge?
If you are troubled by an inflammatory condition, it might be worth putting yourself up to The Nightshade Challenge...
Nightshade vegetables - friend or foe? I think it depends ;)
An article by Tim Cooper
Copyright (c) 2017
References:
1. Comparative anti-inflammatory properties of Capsaicin and ethyl-aAcetate extract of Capsicum frutescens linn [Solanaceae] in rats
[downloaded (AEST:20171231:0311) from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3824481/]
2. Vitamix - Nightshade Vegetables: Setting the Record Straight
[https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/nightshade-vegetables-setting-the-record-straight]
3. THE DANGERS OF NIGHTSHADES: WHY EATING THE WRONG FRUITS AND VEGETABLES CAN MAKE PAIN WORSE
[http://drarata.com/the-dangers-of-nightshades-why-eating-the-wrong-fruits-and-vegetables-can-make-pain-worse/]
4. Extract from Solanine structure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine#/media/File:Solanine_3d_structure.png
5. Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug taken or applied to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in certain conditions. It is supplied as or contained in medications under a variety of trade names. (Wikipedia) Names such as Voltaren and Voltarol which are registered trade marks.
All registered trademarks are acknowledged as being owned by those who own them.
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