What’s The Deal with Nightshades and Paleo Auto Immune Conditions?

“So, you’re telling me that on top of no grains, no dairy and no legumes, I’ve also got to omit all the nightshade plants (tomato, white potato, all peppers and eggplant), too?”, a rather upset client with lupus asked me recently.

Yes, that’s true.  For those who follow Paleo due to an auto immune condition, the nightshade plants, as well as nuts and eggs also need to be omitted.

Why?

Because of their inflammatory properties.

The nightshade plants contain alkaloids, include steroid alkaloids, which are known to affect the nervous system.  One might experience difficulty breathing, shaking, joint inflammation and even paralysis.

Before you go off the deep end thinking you’ll never be able to adhere to the further restrictions, take  a quick pause.  Give yourself one month to see how you feel and to monitor your symptoms. Then, if you choose, you can test one thing at a time and see how your body responds.

You might find that tomatoes are no problem, but peppers cause joint aches.

Gather info so you can make the most well educated choices.

Personally, once I figured out which foods made me feel awful (all grains, legumes and dairy) it was beyond easy to not eat them.

Simultaneously, the realization that I felt fantastic eating only Paleo foods concluded my personal experience that this is absolutely, without a doubt, the way that I need to be eating.

Give it a try.

Why suffer?