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What are nightshades?
Are nightshades good for you?
What are nightshades? Have you ever heard of them? Most often people with autoimmune hear of nightshades as something to avoid.
Nightshades are simply a group of fruits and vegetables in the family of plants known as solanum. Plenty of rumors abound as to whether these shady garden growers are good or bad for you, but I'm here to give you the basic insight on what they are.
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What are nightshades? Are nightshades good for you?
Rough Transcript (listening is best)
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Are nightshades good for you? What are they?
What are nightshades? Have you ever heard of them? Most often people with autoimmune hear of nightshades as something to avoid.
Nightshades are simply a group of fruits and vegetables in the family of plants known as solanum. Plenty of rumors abound as to whether these shady garden growers are good or bad for you, but I'm here to give you the basic insight on what they are.
Intro
Welcome if this is your first time listening - I’m Audrey Christie - I’m a functional and integrative nurse nutritionist and energy medicine practitioner. I help women stop chasing symptoms and find relief and ultimately learn how to heal their bodies from autoimmune disease.
Nightshades have achieved full villain status in the autoimmune community.
In recent years, nightshades have gained a full villain status in the autoimmune community. And not without reason, just maybe not a good one.
There are some very famous nutrition-focused physicians that have heavily marketed - if you have symptoms, inflammation, autoimmune disease then you should stay away from them completely. I get it, they seem like they are on our side, touting the benefits of nutrition changing your life and healing your body - which is true - but the catch for them is that you have to give up all of these food categories. That part is not true, well not exactly.
Other popular fad diets have villainized them over and over again as inflammatory, not prehistoric enough, poison even.
Most of the time, I hear of people giving up nightshades and getting temporary relief and then symptoms returning without adding nightshades back in.
So nightshades as autoimmune villains? I’m here to change that friends.
A Quick Story for you from a client...
I absolutely adore getting feedback from you - ratings, reviews on your fav podcast provider, comments and messages on social, and feedback from clients in my 1:1s and group programs...it helps me to help more people and sometimes I get the BEST questions too -
She had given up everything, was eating essentially a paleo, grain-free, diet, heavy on veggies, heavy on meat no grains no dairy no nightshades (those were the devil). Her symptoms kept leaving and coming back… why is that? Because her root causes had not been addressed. She kept getting accused of not eating clean...enough.
So instead of removing another food group… we did some food allergy testing to see exactly what was coming up for her - low and behold - all of her sensitivity was to - plants.
That is a huge indicator that there are some major gut issues going on…
Fast forward to the end of her treatment plan - symptoms of autoimmune GONE. We worked on stress, gut health, energetic wellbeing. Simple right? And guess what - she is back to eating nightshades again - symptom-free.
Which fruits and veggies fall into the nightshade category?
• Tomatoes – You'll get plenty of vitamins A and C plus lycopene, the antioxidant that can reduce inflammation markers and lower your risk for health issues.
• Eggplants – With plenty of dietary fiber, eggplants keep things moving and could contribute to heart health.
• Potatoes – Potatoes possess plenty of potassium, manganese, and vitamin B6, though the skin should be on to get the most out of them (just clean it vigorously!).
• Peppers – All peppers have an abundance of vitamin C and can help you better absorb iron. In the case of chili peppers, the capsaicin they contain ironically may quell heartburn.
Are nightshades a problem?
So, what about those rumors? They have largely to do with causing inflammation. Everybody is different, that darn bio-individuality - so this isn't a hard and fast rule.
Nightshades contain alkaloids, which may affect those with certain conditions differently. The same goes for another compound they contain called solanine that can irritate arthritis pain, cause inflammation, via aggravation of leaky gut. Leaky gut sufferers often find eating these foods causes them more gastrointestinal distress. If you are suffering from an autoimmune disease - then you for sure have leaky gut.
So that means anyone from minor leaky gut and gut-associated symptoms all the way to those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may need to remove them from their diet for a short period of time, while you are healing.
Most of the data that is available that points the finger at nightshades and the studies that show removing nightshades help - point to temporarily removing them. Not forever. Only until you heal your gut, then you can reintroduce them.
Can I eat nightshades?
A lot of people can safely eat nightshades without consequence.
If you've been diagnosed with autoimmune disorders or IBD, then a trial elimination to avoid nightshades can be a way to test to see if they are aggravating your human suit. While eliminating them you can substitute potatoes for sweet potatoes, use pesto sauce rather than tomato sauce when making Italian dishes, eat citrus fruits, and fill your plate with leafy greens.
Once your gut is healed and your symptoms are subsided. It’s important to get the rich vitamins, minerals, and fiber that this category of food contains. Because eliminating them forever is only a temporary solution. The relief won’t last - and you will find yourself with your symptoms back, worse, and you wondering what in the world you are allowed to eat.
When you are adding them back to your diet, lower alkaloid content in nightshades is to avoid green tomatoes, peel your potatoes completely, and cook them thoroughly before consuming. Then go back to consuming them as part of your bountiful diet.
If you are struggling with an autoimmune condition, I have created a free resource for you, called Kickstart Your Autoimmune Revolution, And its specifically simple steps you can take right now. You can download it on the show notes page or your podcast player, or at audreychristie.com/autoimmune.
To wrap this up -
Nightshades are not the devil. They are not villains and they aren’t the enemy. It’s important to get the rich vitamins, minerals, and fiber that this category of food contains. Take the steps to find out the root and heal it so you can start an autoimmune revolution! Forget being an autoimmune warrior right, no more fighting - conqueror your autoimmune disease!
Thank you so much for tuning in, if you have a second it would mean the world to me if you could leave a rating or review! That helps me help more people start an autoimmune revolution of their own. I’d be oh so grateful.
I hope you have the most magical and restful day friends, and I challenge you to leave your world, however you can, a little better than how you found it when you got up this morning.
Be well.