Re: Do I have to stop nightshade foods forever?

I've heard that if you eat processed foods like ketchup and, I don't know, marinara in the can or something, then it will have been processed down enough to reduce the alkaloids in the nightshades.

I just recently became sensitive to these toxins (because of overuse of NSAIDs) and, while my body freaks out when I eat a potato or a fresh slice of tomato on a sandwich (weird how incredibly *fast* that came on, I have to say), I don't seem to have the same reactions when I eat, say, ketchup.

I've cut them all out of my diet for now, but, as with the original poster... I am going to miss them. Fresh tomatoes on a summer morning? Jeez. It doesn't get any better. My local pizzeria's fresh Sicilian marinara? Ugh. I don't like thinking about never eating that again. But, really, they are added to so many things. I have been trying to buy soups in the soup aisle lately-- the rare ones that don't have tomatoes or peppers have Potato Starch as an ingredient! My scientist friend says that "a starch is a starch" and shouldn't count, but I'm still afraid to eat things that contain it. (Anybody know if it makes a difference?) And then there are cheeseburgers, my favorite food: I'm quite particular about how I have my burger, and the recipe includes tomatoes And ketchup.

But, now, I have gained weight, on my S.A.D. (diet), and am beginning to realize: yeah-- I love all those foods, So Much... but, just like I used to Love smoking cigarettes, my focus on the nightshade food group is not only depriving my body of resources it could be using for the improvement of my health, but also, because of that, kind of killing me. Maybe setting me up for diabetes or cancer. Maybe making mobility a serious issue in the future. Maybe making mobility an issue now, and I just don't know it.

I'm on day 8 of nightshade free. The joints in my hands feel better than they have in a long time. I was taking 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours or so for about 10 months because my "tendonitis" and "arthritis" were so bad: now the pain is negligible and mostly gone. And I cut myself off NSAIDs the same day as nightshades. So I think it may be a good change! A challenge, but a good change... there are so many other food... (that's what I'll keep telling myself) "Hey, Nightshades! You broke my heart! But there are other fish in the sea!" Tweet