Nutrition Nugget: Nightshades
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline
Have you read an article suggesting you nix the nightshades? Has someone in your life recently announced they “can’t eat that,” and that you shouldn’t either? Maybe you’re just wondering what they even are! Let’s satisfy your curiosity with a rundown of what nightshades are and the nutrition facts to decide if we’re going to eat ’em or skip ‘em.
Here’s the foundation: nightshades are a group of vegetables, fruits, and spices that, for some people, cause inflammation and discomfort! While we don’t know for certain why they’re called nightshades, it could be because some of these plants prefer the shade and flowering at night, or could be due to their poisonous capabilities (read on!). There’s over 2,000 varieties of plants in this category, and you’re probably already familiar with quite a few of them: tomatoes and tomatillos, cayenne and crushed red pepper, white potatoes, tobacco, eggplant, bell peppers, chili powder, paprika, goji berries, cape gooseberries and ashwagandha. WOW — that’s a lot of different plants that don’t seem to resemble each other at all! What they all have in common, however, is an alkaloid called solanine. Alkaloids are an organic compound that contains at least one nitrogen atom…and they can be toxic.
Before you rush to research all 2,000+ nightshades so you can toss them in the trash, know that most of us are not consuming them in high enough concentrations to harm our health, so long as you’re not having a belladonna salad! However, some people report that they experience pain after consuming nightshades, which is sometimes relieved after elimination. If you have irritable bowel disease, gastritis, or other autoimmune conditions, you may want to consider cutting out nightshades as they could cause inflammation. While findings are inconclusive, you could have an allergy or sensitivity to foods from this group, or they could be throwing off your body’s pH balance. If you think that nightshades may be contributing to symptoms you’re experiencing, then you could try an elimination diet.
If you’re someone that experiences discomfort after consuming nightshades, easy substitutes are sweet potatoes, avocado, Brussels sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes, and pesto (for replacing your tomato sauce). Include citrus fruits and dark leafy greens (such as spinach, kale and collard greens) into your meal plan, since they’ll offer similar vitamin profiles to that of many nightshades.
If you don’t experience any sort of discomfort when eating foods from this group, use the same logic that we established when discussing gluten. There’s no need to cut out these nutrient dense veggies and fruits full of minerals, antioxidants, and fiber if your body plays well with them. Sometimes the alternatives, if you’re replacing them with processed foods and “alternative ingredients,” aren’t contributing to your health. Remember, just because your friend’s jumping on a new bandwagon doesn’t mean it’s the right next step for you. Now that you’re equipped with more nightshade nutrition knowledge (say that three times fast!), you have the ability to make the best dietary decisions for your health!
