Nightshades and inflammation

[Hfultz]

Hi,

I've recently just completed the Whole 30, no cheating! Yeah!!! I feel good, am excersizing a lot more and my mood is better. However, the entire time I was on the diet, I ate nightshades ( potatoes, tomatoes, peppers,) in some form or another at every meal and have experienced bloating, constipation and terrible rosacea. Wine used to give me rosacea, so I stopped. Ofcourse, stopped drinking alcohol and was surprised to see it got so much worse. 

My question is, if this is an anti-inflammation diet, why are nightshades allowed? I've recently read that they are inflammation inducing. 

 

Side question- caffeine is known to raise cortisol, the stress hormone which can cause belly fat. Why is that allowed on the diet?

Thanks

[SugarcubeOD]

7 minutes ago, Hfultz said:

Hi,

I've recently just completed the Whole 30, no cheating! Yeah!!! I feel good, am excersizing a lot more and my mood is better. However, the entire time I was on the diet, I ate nightshades ( potatoes, tomatoes, peppers,) in some form or another at every meal and have experienced bloating, constipation and terrible rosacea. Wine used to give me rosacea, so I stopped. Ofcourse, stopped drinking alcohol and was surprised to see it got so much worse. 

My question is, if this is an anti-inflammation diet, why are nightshades allowed? I've recently read that they are inflammation inducing. 

 

Side question- caffeine is known to raise cortisol, the stress hormone which can cause belly fat. Why is that allowed on the diet?

Thanks

Not everyone is intolerant to nightshades, just like not everyone is intolerant to high FODMAP foods or high histamine foods.  The most common inflammatory foods were removed and the rest was left as we want the program to be accessible and taking out nightshades and FODMAPS and high histamine foods would make the program nigh on impossible.  In your context if you feel that the problem is nightshades, then now that you've done one full as written Whole30, you can do the AIP version or even just start removing what you think is most problematic and go from there.

As far as the coffee, again, this program wasn't written to remove every possible item that might cause problems ever.  It's an elimination protocol to help heal your gut and help you determine what foods affect you how.  If coffee is personally a problem for you or you don't like the biological effects it can have, definitely remove it but for a vast sum of people, coffee is not an issue and for a vast sum of people, they're not doing this for weight loss so the cortisol/belly fat connection would have less impact to them.

[MeadowLily]

Not everyone has to walk a fine line with FODMAPS or AIP. Some choose to eat the same foods every day with no problems. The downside is missing out on nutrients that different foods provide. The greater the variety the greater bacterial diversity in your gut. Eating tomatoes, coleslaw and a protein at every meal may not heal your gut but on the other hand, fermented cabbage/foods could help. This isn't a weight loss diet but if coffee messes with your cortisol or blood sugar, leave it out. The guidelines cover the bases for the majority of people.