Inflammatory Foods To Avoid // Part I: Nightshades

Quite often, I come across claims reporting that I should not eat this food or that food because of my autoimmune arthritis. This is extremely frustrating because these claims are rarely substantiated. Why should I cut out a completely delicious food, if you're not even going to tell me why? So, dear readers, I am going to tell you why certain foods are not great for autoimmune arthritis or for living an anti-inflammatory life. Because I want to research and get you the best info about each category of food that should be avoided to live your best anti-inflammatory life, I will be writing a few introductory lists of foods to avoid. 

To begin with, many of our food problems are going to fall in to one food family in particular: Solanaceae. This food family is more commonly known as "nightshade." 

General nightshade to avoid:

1. Tobacco (Seriously folks, it isn't just bad because of lung cancer!)
2. Modified Food Starch
3. Starch
4. Yeast

Nightshade fruits to avoid:

1. Tomatoes
2. Goji Berries
3. Jerusalem Cherries
4. Tamarillo
5. Gooseberries

Nightshade vegetables include:

1. Potatoes (Though, sweet potatoes are okay.)
2. Eggplant
3. Sweet Peppers
4. Chili Peppers
5. Banana Peppers
6. Cayenne
7. Habanero
8. Paprika
9. Pimentos
10. Tomatillos
11. Wax Peppers

Alkaloids are the big problem in nightshade plants. Alkaloids are thought to be the cause of many health problems including morning stiffness, acid reflux, insomnia, muscle pain, gallbladder problems, arthritis, and other inflammatory problems.  There are 4 primary types of alkaloids: steroid alkaloids, tropane alkaloids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and indole alkaloids. Basically, the biggest issue alkaloids cause is that they interfere with calcium metabolism. One theory suggests that nightshades remove calcium from bones and deposit that calcium in to soft tissue. Another theory is that nightshades are pro-inflammatory substances, provoking immune and inflammatory reactions in the body.

Just like with sugar, you don't have to fully cut nightshades out of your diet, but it is good to limit them. I'll tell you though, cutting out nightshades (just like cutting out sugar) is hard. Everyone loves french fries and potato chips. Many of us enjoy peppers. Tomatoes seem to be in everything. But, you can do this. You can lower how many of these you eat. I still have some of these from time to time. You won't notice how much they are affecting your inflammation until you cut them out for a little while. One day after cutting them out, you'll let yourself have a tomato or potato or pepper and you'll realize how much eating that nightshade plant has affected your inflammation and pain.