Nightshades

[Barbara Ellen]

I started whole30 22 days ago. the first 10 days were awful. My joint pain was the worst it had ever been. I was nauseated, had diarrhea, felt awful. then I happened to be going over the dietary restrictions again and noticed the mention of nightshades when discussing potatoes. I realized that over the previous 10 days I had just been piling nightshades into my diet - peppers in my omelet, tomatoes in my salad and on my burger and chopped up in chicken dishes, eggplant almost every day - I had more than quintupled my

intake of nightshades. so I cut them out. 3 days later  - amazing! Digestive problems completely gone, joint pain much, much less, energy way up. And after 22 days the joint pain is totally gone. Now I am working on joint stiffness through exercise.

 

So the one food group I will NEVER reintroduce is a a food group which is not excluded in paleo. But it was through whole30 that I discovered it. Go figure.

[tiva]

I did the same thing during my Whole30, which I undertook in hopes that it would help my joint pain. But in my enthusiasm for vast quantities of veggies, I started eating lots of red peppers, chilis, eggplants, and tomatoes every single day. By the final week, my joints were really hurting. So i cut out nightshades for a while, and my joints feel a little better.

 

However, turns out I have Lyme Disease, which is really why my joints were hurting! (Not surprising for a field ecologist in the middle of deer-tick central, also known as Wisconsin. Every single grad student and colleague of mine has had Lymes. This is my third time with it over 20  years. Even with lots of precautions, I'm pulling off 3 to 5 embedded ticks a week. You get used to it. But diet can't cure this one: thank heavens for antibiotics! Time for 3 weeks of doxycycline). The good news is this suggests I can add back in reasonable portions of my favorite veggies soon.

[Beets]

Yup. I also figured out my beloved bell peppers were wreaking havoc on my psoriasis. 😭.

Whenever I "ate healthy" I'd live on chili and other pots of meals involving peppers and nightshade spices without any clue I was sabotaging myself.

[jeannebean]

A few years ago (when I was just "lower carb", not yet Paleo), my hands were really painful in the mornings.  I'd have to hold them under hot water for a few minutes to make them movable.  When I asked friends/co-workers if this sounded familiar, most of them laughed and said, "It's arthritis.  Too bad - you're getting old."  (Yeah, I've since gotten new friends who aren't jerks!)

 

Someone recommended I google "Anti-Inflammatory Diet".  I'd never heard of it, but I googled.  Nightshades, I love you, but we can't hang out any more!  The biggest change I made was to stop eating tomatoes.  My hands got better so quickly and so completely, it was like flipping a switch.

 

I miss tomatoes, especially in the summer when they're so ripe and luscious, but I'd rather have the use of my hands.

[Gypsy0108]

I am on day 5 of my first Whole 30 and pretty much doing it because of joint pain - - - DON'T need to lose weight. So peppers (are jalapeños included?) , eggplant, tomatoes and what else did you all eliminate from this eating program in order to help joint pain? YIKES.....just getting used to it....hate to cut out more, but sounds like its worth a try. Thanks in advance.

[Kailes006]

It think im going to have to go nightshade free too--- just cant get the sore feelings out of my hands and feet in the morning. I used to think it was just too much salt or eating bad but im on day 33 and had spaghetti sauce last night and my hands are sore this morning ill think ill try it for a week. 

[bee.roberts]

I found out I'm intolerant to nightshades too, as a result of incorporating lots of fresh pepper into my diet. It's a shame as most of our meals prior to this were tomato and/or potato based!

 

Can anyone tell me how this affects my W30 - i.e. do I need to start over? Granted, my body has adapted to the low carbs thing now, but I'm wondering if I need a full 30 days irritant free for it to count?

 

Thanks!

Bee x