Why no nightshades on paleo

That is very recent in the time span of human biological evolution. According to Dr. Are Nightshades part of the Paleo Diet? Maybe not. Therefore we can fairly say they were not part of the human diet during Paleolithic times. There are many blurry areas in our modern interpretations of the Paleo Diet.

Scientists believe that humanity was probably birthed in Africa, migrating to Europe, Asia, and more recently to the Americas. However should we then throw out all the other New World foods we love? Oh dear, that would mean no chocolate, sunflower, squash, vanilla, avocado, pumpkin, sweet potato, common beans, green beans, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, pecans, tapioca, quinoa, Brazil nuts or cashews.

Are my favorite blender and food processor Paleo? Where should we draw the line? What do tomatoes, peppers and potatoes all have in common? If you are following the Paleo lifestyle, then you know that your diet should be filled with a variety of fresh vegetables. But, even though you are increasing your vegetable consumption, you need to understand that not all vegetables are created equal. In comparison, there is a short list of nightshades that are edible and commonly included in the modern diet:.

Any spices or foods made from a type of pepper fall within the nightshades category. Instead, some people find that they experience chronic health problems when eating these vegetables consistently. But, you will need to observe your own health signals to see how your body reacts when you eat these types of vegetables. It has been found that people with autoimmune diseases are more likely to experience sensitivity when eating nightshades.

It is thought that there are a few compounds within the vegetables contribute to inflammation and pain within the body. Glycoalkaloids and solanine are compounds within nightshades that have been linked with stiff body, inflammation, tenderness, pain, aches, and muscle spasms. In comparison, the symptoms might be mild, and other people might notice a little bit of digestive discomfort, so they prefer to stay away from veggies in the nightshade category. If you are sensitive to nightshades and you choose to eliminate them from your diet, it could take up to 3 months before the pain is reduced and the inflammation decreases.

Many people find it beneficial to cut out nightshades for a few months, and then slowly start introducing the foods into the diet to see how their body reacts. As you add these vegetables back into your diet, make sure that you include only one at a time, in order to isolate each ingredient to identify potential food sensitivities.

Healthy guts can deal with these chemicals just fine, but people whose digestive system is already compromised by an autoimmune disease have trouble with them. Another danger of alkaloids is gut irritation: their job in the plant is to kill things, and when they start killing things in your intestine as well, the cells lining the intestinal tract are their first victims. All foods contain lectins; many of those lectins are completely harmless, but others are gut irritants — the hard part is figuring out which is which.

We know that the lectins in peanuts , for example, are dangerous. The lectins in nightshades may also be gut irritants in sensitive individuals, setting off the same leaky gut response as the alkaloids.

In this study , for example the researchers fed potato skins the skin is where most of the alkaloids lurk to mice with inflammatory bowel disease, and found that gut inflammation was significantly increased. The higher the alkaloid content of the potatoes, the worse the inflammation. In fact, the same chemical compounds that cause so many problems in nightshade-sensitive people can bring benefits to people with healthy digestive systems.

Capsaicin, for example, might be more familiar to most of us as an anti -inflammatory, one of the big health benefits of eating hot peppers. Alkaloids have even been studied as therapies for various diseases, precisely because of these benefits.

For healthy people, the hormetic stress of alkaloids is neutral at best, and may even be a benefit.