Alkaline Diet Q&A #18: Should I Avoid Nightshades?

image of nightshade vegetables

Every now and then I get a question by email (or through my Facebook page) that I think everyone would love to hear the answer to.

Last night Lisa emailed me with the below question about nightshade plants and whether they should be avoided. I have heard this a lot over the years so this is a good chance to clear up the confusion!

 

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Is It Safe to Eat Nightshades or Should I Avoid Them?

I have just read your article about alkaline foods.Great information, thank you. I know peppers are full of anti-oxidants. However, I am a little confused because peppers are from the deadly night shade family, so doesn’t that make them an inflammatory food? As are tomatoes, which are also full of anti oxidants.
I would love to get your thoughts on it.

Thank you

Regards
Lisa


My Answer:

Hey Lisa

Thanks for getting in touch!

There are a lot of myths surrounding nightshade vegetables, and a lot is in that name! First and foremost, the plant ‘deadly nightshade’ (Atrope belladonna) which is an inedible and poisonous weed – has nothing to do with the nightshade vegetables. They are completely different species/families and are not in any way related.

We have to remove the word ‘deadly’ from the vocabulary when talking about these plants 🙂

The concept of them being inflammatory is based in the fuzzy logic of them contributing to arthritis and osteoporosis. The logic here is that some nightshade vegetables contain oxalic acid and so can cause calcium to bind in the intestine, lowering calcium absorption. The truth is that you would have to be chronically deficient in calcium and eat obscene amounts of nightshades (thus oxalic acid) for this to have any noticeable effect.

The nightshades are also so rich in alkaline minerals that it increases the net alkali in the body and prevents the body from having to draw calcium from the bones to neutralize a high dietary net acid load. When we eat a lot of acid-forming foods the body has to balance the pH in our blood and other fluids and it does this primarily by drawing alkali substances from elsewhere in the body, including calcium from the bones.

This is why there are so many studies linking high cola consumption with osteoporosis.

If it is a concern or if you are (or anyone is) sensitive to certain foods or get arthritic pain after eating a particular nightshade, then always cook it. Steaming, boiling, and baking all help reduce the alkaloid content of nightshades by up to 50% – making a very slight concern almost minuscule!

I hope this helps! As with most things – if it contains a LOT of health benefits, but with a little anecdotal-evidence-based risk, then you can still enjoy it happily in moderation.

But I would not have concerns over bell pepper/capsicum in any way – the high alkali content and the huge volume of antioxidants makes this a must-have food.

Thanks
Ross

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