Better Nutrition August 2017
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asktheNUTRITIONIST/ANSWERS TO YOUR FOOD QUESTIONS<br />
What You Should Know<br />
About Nightshades<br />
Do you really like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes?<br />
Find out why some people are shunning these popular foods.<br />
/// BY MELISSA DIANE SMITH<br />
Melissa Diane<br />
Smith is an<br />
internationally<br />
known journalist<br />
and holistic nutritionist<br />
who has more than 20<br />
years of clinical nutrition<br />
experience and specializes<br />
in using food as medicine.<br />
She is the cutting-edge<br />
author of Going Against<br />
GMOs, Going Against the<br />
Grain, and Gluten Free<br />
Throughout the Year, and<br />
the coauthor of Syndrome<br />
X. To learn about her<br />
books, long-distance<br />
consultations, nutrition<br />
coaching programs, or<br />
speaking, visit her websites:<br />
melissadianesmith.com<br />
and againstthegrainnutrition.com.<br />
: I’ve heard the term “nightshade foods,” but I don’t know what foods<br />
those are. I’ve also heard that some people avoid them. Why?<br />
—Maria G., Yuma, Ariz.<br />
a:Nightshades are the common<br />
name for flowering plants that<br />
belong to the botanical family Solanaceae,<br />
which contains more than 2,000<br />
different species. Many nightshades are<br />
poisonous and should never be eaten,<br />
including belladonna, also known as<br />
deadly nightshade.<br />
Many nightshades, however, are<br />
very popular foods—tomatoes, potatoes,<br />
eggplant, all types of sweet and hot<br />
peppers, cayenne, chili powder, paprika,<br />
pimentos, tomatillos, chilies, goji berries,<br />
and ashwagandha (an adaptogenic herb<br />
used in Ayurvedic medicine). In fact, in<br />
the U.S., we consume almost 230 pounds<br />
of nightshades per person per year.<br />
Personal Stories, Limited Research<br />
Though many health professionals<br />
encourage people to eat these<br />
foods, herbs, and spices for<br />
Did<br />
You<br />
Know?<br />
The nightshade belladonna<br />
was used by<br />
Macbeth to poison<br />
invading Danish<br />
troops.<br />
the nutrients they provide, some people<br />
strictly avoid nightshades. To be clear, no<br />
scientific research in humans has ever<br />
looked into the long-term health effects<br />
of eating nightshades. But evidence<br />
based on personal reports and the<br />
experience of nutritionists and integrative<br />
health specialists suggest that eating<br />
nightshades is connected with arthritis<br />
and joint pain, and that eliminating them<br />
from the diet is extremely helpful and<br />
sometimes a dramatic answer for overcoming<br />
joint pain.<br />
One of those personal stories<br />
comes from Sherry A. Rogers,<br />
MD, a general practitioner<br />
and author of numerous<br />
books on health. In a<br />
testimonial on the Arthritis<br />
Nightshades Research<br />
Foundation website, she writes<br />
28 • AUGUST <strong>2017</strong>
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