do long term raw foodists eat nightshades? what about you? just curious. I read tomatoes ( other nightshades also) contain nicotine ( trace amounts).

should we avoid them?

All of the secondary plant metabolites, those so-called "phytochemicals" that protect plants from environmental insult but seem to help prevent disease in animals including human animals are actually poisons in large doses. You can purify them to make insecticides.

But in small doses they are protective. And we get very small doses from eating them. That's one of the reasons why variety is helpful. So that we will have exposure to a wide variety of protective phytochemicals without overdoing it on any one thing.

Plants are very cool because unlike animals, they can't run away. They evolved these fabulous mechanisms to protect themselves. And when we eat them, at least the ones that are obviously meant to be eaten, we get some of that protection, too.

Smoking them, snorting them, or injecting them is a different story.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2009 02:50AM by arugula.

This forum is great for causing me to research and think about various issues. This thread is a case in point. After reading the posts here and reading some info at: [en.wikipedia.org] especially under the section titled "Alkaloids" I have decided to continue eating tomatos and other nightshades in small amounts. I think maybe its kind of like apple seeds in that some people ring the alarm bell about eating large amounts and rightfully so but actually in small amounts the natural nutrients in the plant can be helpful to the body. From my own experience I am satisfied with that conclusion because I have eaten small amounts of nightshades and apple seeds without any negative effects that I am aware of. Whats your conclusion ?

sometimes if i eat a lot of tomatoes (i mean like 16+ fatties) i feel lethargic or/and i get bags under my eyes.

I love tomatoes. Also tomatillos and red bell peppers. I don't notice any problems from eating them, and I eat a lot of tomatoes in the summer time.

Some people have more trouble with the solanine in night shades than others. Hubby, for one, cant tolerate them. He started feeling so much better once he stopped tomato/potato/bell pepper consumption. Bummer, tho. I love Ts!
[www.trustedhands.com]

Tomatoes and peppers don't bother me, but boy, potatoes sure do! I need a nap after I eat them!

>Tomatoes and peppers don't bother me, but boy, potatoes sure do! I need a nap after I eat them!<

Ditto for me. I love tomatoes, especially, and usually have at least one a day, and haven't felt any negative effects. It's hard for me to imagine that tomatoes and red peppers are bad for you, based on my body's (lack of) reaction to them.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

I went through a time when I craved bell peppers and just had to eat them always. When tomatoes are in season I eat them daily as well. They taste so good when they are in season but the hot house ones taste like trash.
In fact tomatoes, bell peppers and watermellons are on my list for gardening this year.

i find that tomatoes are something women seem to enjoy more then men.

not saying that men don't enjoy tomatoes or anything, it's just that women and tomatoes are like this thing... kind of like chocolate. just about every women i've ever met has had an affinity for tomatoes. a lot of women have a love affair with them.

I can't get good Tomatoes, and am considering
eliminating them (and Sweet Peppers) from my daily Green
Smoothie. It'll be interesting to see if there's any difference...WY

ilovejen says:

<< women and tomatoes are like this thing... kind of like chocolate. just about every women i've ever met has had an affinity for tomatoes. a lot of women have a love affair with them.>>

ha ha.. that made me laugh and smile
love affair is kinda really a strong phrase
i do admit that i have a love affair with kale ( DEFINETELY)
but i can't say that i have a love affair with tomatoes UNLESS they are mixed in with kale

then ... i have an even stronger love thing with kale

i also think that men probably love chocolate too
but women are always told we like things a lot more due to our hormones etc

yeah, tomatoes are nice
i like the vine ripened ones

not so crazy about the roma ones
unless i am getting them directly from someone elses backyard
after its been fully ripened

the ones that are VERY FRAGRANT
are the good ones

okay, the ones i really like
are the heirloom tomatoes

those are out of this world

and no... i don't have a love affair for tomatoes (smile)

V: don't lie. I know you are just trying to cover your tracks. it's okay. We are not going to tell Kale about your secret love affair. ;P

but those heirloom ones, oh man. My favorite are the dark blood red ones, and the bright orange. I love the slippery texture on the inner wall of the skin when i slide my tongue up it... i feel almost erotic about it.

a delicacy.

Right on, now that you mention it, I have noticed that the ladies seem to dig tomatoes...

tomatoes were once knows as love apples

A LOVE APPLE A DAY



ABOUT THE LOVE APPLE Strangely, this fruit is believed to have originated in Europe and migrated to South America. Cultivated by the Incas and the Aztecs in about 700 AD, its use spread throughout Mexico and the Andes Mountains of Peru. Its seeds were likely re-introduced to Europe in or about 1519 by explorer Hernandez Cortez, who carried them back to Spain.

When the tomato began its incline in popularity back in the 16th century, somehow, the rumor got started that this food would make a person "more romantic." Records exist of the tomato being used in salads. Soon, use of the fruit expanded to Portugal, France and Italy, where it was embraced and became known as many things--in Northern Europe, the devil's wolf apple; in Italy, the golden apple; and in Spain, the moor's apple. As a result of the continued belief that it could arouse passion, France deemed it a "love apple, " and the Germans, in the 1800s, an "apple of paradise."

The word tomato stems from the French, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, probably translation of French pomme d'amour, , from the former belief in the tomato's aphrodisiacal powers, pomme, apple, + de, of, + amour, love. In addition, a translation of the Liebesapfel, means literally, in German, "love apple," and the old Italian word for tomato, "pomi d'amore" means apple of love.

The love apple did not arrive into the American Colonies until 1770, where use was found only it is flowers. As Colonists considered the fruit poisonous, a belief picked up from the British, the heart-shaped food simply fell to the ground and wasted. With the immigration of many French to the States in 1812, use of the tomato in gourmet recipes began to be practiced. Another assistant to the popularity cause of the tomato was President Thomas Jefferson, who ate tomatoes readily. Now, the tomato tops the charts as America's third highly produced crop. No longer just a salad or sauce ingredient, it is used in quiches, soups, catsup, salad dressings and as a snack.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2009 02:42AM by Jgunn.

I like tomatoes, especially romas, right off the vine. I can eat and eat! No problem.

Mashed eggplant can be good for skin problems. I applied it to a spot of dermatitis that I'd had for a year. It opened up and looked worse for awhile. Then it went away.

My mother used to say nightshades made her arthritis worse.

Cocoa_nibs, what symptoms does your hubby experience from the nightshades?

Haha, syncronicity- yesterday I was debating on cutting out nightshades and then bam, I see this thread.

Because of my allergy history, I think I'm going to trial cutting out them out.

It's weird- I have gradually got to the point where I force myself to eat tomatoes if someone has put them on my plate (I dislike wasting food). I never felt this way about cooked tomatoes. It's not even like I've gone completely off the taste of them, it's almost like an instinct when it comes to swallowing them.

On Wikipedia, it says this:

The family includes Datura or Jimson weed, mandrake, deadly nightshade or belladonna, capsicum (paprika, chili pepper), potato, tobacco, tomato, eggplant and petunia.

Are there any major plants they have omitted (it says 'include')?

I could give up storebought tomatoes .... I guess

but
.... March is coming .... and gardening time

and little and big tomatoes, cherry, Roma, all kind of juicy, sweet tentations from my garden

yes, the tomatoes from my backyard are like no other.

Please check www.noarthritis.com....nightshades do block your b vitamins and would be real interesting to see bloodwork on tomato addicts of which I probably was the worst! My b vitamins never would normalize no matter what I ate or supplemented until I cut out my nightshade addictions...then wow!! My B vits. were suddenly perfect for the first time in my life!! My first 2 sons have partial cleft palates which research has proved can be linked to high nightshade consumption...very interesting to read threads like this because the worst addicts are the worst attackers!!LOL

kris5194, how much of the nightshade family would you say you consumed per night or per week?

Wow, you guys. I can't believe that no one has brought up the point of cooked vs. raw food in the nightshades. I am sure there are problems when people eat cooked tomato sauce, tomato soup, baked potatoes, french fries, eggplant parmesan, etc. It is the cooking that deranges and intensifies the "poisons" in the plants. Just like smoking pot (weed, marijuana) turns a plant into a drug. It is the cooking/heating that is the problem.

I used to have some questions about tomatoes, but now I agree with Arugula. My own experience is that if they are of good quality and taste delicious to me, there is no problem!

: )

Love,
Julie

I keep reading this idea that cooking "deranges" stuff in plants. On a chemical level, what could this mean? Citations? Any studies out there to support this claim?

[ keep reading this idea that cooking "deranges" stuff in plants. On a chemical level, what could this mean? Citations? Any studies out there to support this claim?]

There are thousands of phytochemicals in plants. They all have different ranges for optimal temperature. Disengaging them by applying heat has not thus been shown to be an appreciable health hazard.

But basing your entire diet around extremely overcooked foods (like fast food deep fried) is definitely hazardous.

By "deranges" do you mean "denatures"?

I need to go back to chemistry class. I get the idea that eating fried non-food is hazardous. What's confusing to me, though, is the idea that phytochemicals become disengaged ("deranged" seems emotive) in the heating process.

What about eggplant? I actually like it raw, especially the small thai ones. Seem to remember reading somewhere that they're actually toxic this way though and it's better to cook them. Also potatoes supposedly less toxic when cooked, no?

~lanie

Suncloud, My husband's symptoms are a feeling of having a 'knot' in his stomach, tiredness, energy drain, and a very uncomfortable tension sensation in his throat. He also had a very painful finger joint on his hand, which completely healed up within days after cutting out all night shades.

As for negative reactions to solanine, I think it is not considered an allergy, but rather an inability to metabolize. My husband had the ELISA allergy test done, which came back negative on tomatoes. In very large amounts solanines are poisonous to all of us, so it just depends on the 'dose' where people start reacting negatively.
Cooking makes the solanine in nightshades easier to break down rather than raw, according to my research. As a matter of fact, hubby has less issue with fried potatoes rather than boiled, as frying involves higher heat. Of course that brings on other issues and as always, risks and benefits need to be weighed against each other.

I love Heirlooms, but haven't been craving any tomatoes during winter.