Nightshades: Friend or Foe?

 

Eat your vegetables. It’s one of the first lessons we learn about nutrition - that veggies are necessary for a healthy life. But what if you were told that some vegetables are not as good as you thought? What if some were said to cause inflammation, osteoporosis, and even cancer? 

 

You may not believe these claims on the surface, but many diets do. They call the foe foods nightshades, and they include things like eggplants, potatoes, bell peppers, and paprika. To these diet plans, nightshades must be avoided. They say there’s evidence to support their belief. So, what should we do? 

 

 

 

To start, let’s break down what nightshades are and why they’re feared by so many. This family of foods are distinct because they have a certain chemical compound called an alkaloid. More specifically, the alkaloid solanine. This chemical is also found in another plant. A much scarier, dangerous plant...tobacco. 

  

So if alkaloids can be toxic to humans and nightshade vegetables have alkaloids, shouldn’t we swear off nightshades altogether? Well, not exactly. The amount of solanine in nightshades is significantly lower than that of the tobacco plant. Plus, there are no large-scale studies to support these claims. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite. 

 

Read more about solanine here: https://phyto-chem.com/2020/10/04/solanine-the-toxic-compound-in-potatoes/

 

Remember the claim that nightshade vegetables contribute to osteoporosis? It turns out that the alkali found in many edible nightshades is beneficial to bone health. Likewise, the American Institute for Cancer Research lists tomatoes - a notorious nightshade - as one of the top cancer-fighting foods. 

 

The Takeaway - While people may claim that avoiding nightshades makes them feel better, we don’t have sufficient research to show that these foods are pro-inflammatory or contribute to poor health.  

 

Many nightshade vegetables contain nutritious and necessary vitamins and minerals. If you feel that a particular food is causing problems, speak to your dietitian or doctor about it. If nightshades are truly an issue, this is more than likely due to an underlying inflammatory condition. 

 

In the end, there’s no solid reason to consider nightshades a foe. In reality, they can boost our health and improve the quality of our diets. So don’t give up on vegetables yet - even if they're nightshades.

 

-RP 

References: 

https://eatrightpa.org/members/blog/nightshade-vegetables-inflammation/

https://www.samhealth.org/about-samaritan/news-search/2021/01/11/are-nightshade-vegetables-bad-for-you-to-eat

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/whats-the-deal-with-nightshade-vegetables/