Nightshades are members of a family of plants called Solanacea. Some of the most common nightshades include tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, white potatoes, and the herb ashwagandha. These foods are excluded from an autoimmune Paleo diet. However, while some people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis have negative reactions to one or more of the nightshades, many people with these conditions don’t seem to have a problem with them.
If you want to learn more about why nightshades are excluded from an autoimmune Paleo diet you can read my article entitled nightshades and thyroid health. But the primary goal of this blog post is to find out what your experience has been with nightshades. While I realize that you can’t always go by symptoms, many people who have problems with the nightshades become symptomatic when consuming them. Other people are able to get into remission while continuing to eat nightshades, or upon reintroducing them back after initially eliminating them.
If you have problems with some or all of the different nightshades please let me know! If this is the case, please feel free to be specific and let me know what nightshades you have a negative reaction to. If you feel fine when consuming nightshades, please feel free to share this as well. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with everyone.
I’ve done the complete autoimmune/paleo elimination diet, plus GAPS diet, and have remained mostly grain free for over 3 years now, keeping a diligent food diary. I don’t notice any reaction whatsoever to nightshades, but I do get a reaction from wheat and cow dairy. I’m actually fine with cow butter, but can’t even handle the cream. I can eat all goat dairy without any problems.
I mistakenly took ashwagandha when in the midst of thyroiditis, it messed me up quite a lot. I have since tried it again at it has been a completely different and positive experience.
How did ashwanganda affect you? What side effects did you experience?
Although I can eat cow butter, and occasionally a bit of cow cream, I can’t drink cow milk. I can’t eat soft cheeses of any kind, but I can eat extra old cheddar. I was completely grain free for two years, and did not notice any difference at all, so I’m back to eating grains with no issues at all. I scratch-tested positive for wheat but I do not have much faith in scratch testing, nor does my family doctor nor my allergist.
I have graves. I’ve been strictly gluten free for nearly a year (and only ate traditionally baked organic sourdough spelt and ancient grains prior to that, for about 5 yrs). I limited my intake of nightshades about two-three years ago because eating tomatoes in particular made my joints feel stiff. Interestingly since I’ve been gluten free, I seem to tolerate nightshades better than I used to. I still keep it occasional…2-3 servings a week, with no ill effects.
I had Hypothyroid, eight years back and with Acupressure treatment got over the disease and all its side effects. Had medication only for 3 months. I am 44+ years old female. I had a problem with my periods, irregular and lot of PMS problems.Got all my test and the Doc. gave me a clean chit saying all my internals are extremely healthy. So two years back I started taking organic Ashwagandha and now my periods are regular and on time. Even though my thyroid test results have remained normal I notice swelling on my thyroid sometimes, using Geranium EO and Betadine on my skin for Iodine absorption has helped me a lot.
Hi
I struggle with nightshades. Tomatoes cause blistering on hands, and in mouth which is extremely itchy and often the ones on hands are fluid filled, not sure about the ones in mouth, raw is more instant than cooked ones. Potatoes make me itch when I peel them I just thought it was the starch but, when I eat them my body itches within 20 minutes. Peppers make me itch, give me sore throat, and make me sneeze. ashwaganda is new to me but, I was given it in my herbal medicine mix and wonder if that is why I didnt see the improvements we expected however, I noticed she gave me black pepper in the capsules with tumeric and know black pepper makes me react so, it could of been that rather than the herb ashwaganda, or a combination of both.
Frustrating as like potatoes and tomatoes
xoxox
How timely! I’ve just started to eliminate the nightshade foods out of my diet for about 2 months now. At first I could not imagine ever doing without tomatoes out of my diet, but now I don’t crave them. I was diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism 5 years ago, and had a recent lab test run that showed that I also show high antibodies for Rheumatoid arthritis, although I don’t have symptoms for it. So I decided to get serious about trying to reverse and heal my thyroid condition before my situation leads to other autoimmune conditions. So far, my body doesn’t ache like it had before I went on the diet, and I’m hoping the longer I’m on this elimination diet, I will be able to see some solid improvement in my health.
The only things that affect my symptoms are wheat products, sugar and polyunsaturated oils like corn and rapeseed along with margarines and obviously any processed foods. I don’t think i have ever had an issue with tomatoes or potatoes but maybe have with aubergines. Since being gluten-free i can occasionally eat dairy again without any problems. Having said that i don’t think it’s gluten intolerance as such as i ate bread daily in the middle east without any problems, i think it is commercially grown wheat and it’s pesticides that are triggers for me anyway.
I have Hashimoto’s. I have never had any problems with eating nightshades though I have gut issues (flatulence very often and stomach discomfort sometimes). I tested positive with egg and milk in the IgG food test but I did not have any observable symptoms. Also no observable symptoms with gluten. The only food I react strongly is contaminated food.
Hi. Thank you again Dr Eric for your pure interest an support and engaging research. Nightshades are very tricky with me. Ashwaganda does not seem to be much of a problem, although when I had muscle testing on it, it seemed it might not be the one of the best things to take, there are however may positives about it: supporting thyroid, helps with sleep, and many more, so until I find something that works equally or better than I continue with it for now. Peppers, eggplant, potatoes all dont work for me, exacerbate Raynaulds, mouth ulcers, itchy, severe joint pain, some of the nightshades increase difficulty in breathing, not in an anaphylactic way, but more of an inflammation of my entire respiratory system which can last for days sometimes weeks.
The other thing I noticed with night shades is I become more prone to more hair loss and the texture of my hair can change very quickly, this probably has to do with the highly inflammatory reaction i have to NS.
In my case, I think the NS reactions may be linked to being more sensitive to some lectins than others, ie I can tolerate ashwaganda and not tomoatoes.
Its too bad, I/we react with NS because otherwise they are nutrient dense, and then there are all the other foods that I am sensitive to, which leaves me with less than broad spectrum nutrients.
Always learning, thanks,
Dolores
I have noticed many similar reactions, lately! I have Graves’, which now includes Thyroid Eye Disease (swelling, bulging, muscle restriction). I was pretty Paleo for about 4 years, and felt so good that I got a bit cocky, adding back some gluten and the odd dairy product. Nightshades were never much of a problem, and I always continued eating potatoes. In the last 6 months since the onset of the eye disease, I notice that I cannot tolerate peppers in any way (not including black pepper) and that my Raynauds’ acts up almost instantly, and my joints ache as well. Breathing becomes congested. This is a bummer, as I am half West Indian, and it means no curry! No spicy Asian food, either, which is also a favourite. Tomatoes are no longer my friend, and eggplant, my absolute favourite vegetable, and I, have had to break up as well. Potatoes still seem to be okay! I am TRYING to be AIP compliant, as my eyes are becoming pretty bad, but it’s not easy!! Grains and gluten are not great for me, either, but peppers, hot and/or sweet, seem to have the most instant effect. I’m working veeery hard to reduce my inflammation in general – diet, stress, environment – so that my body can calm itself and start to set itself straight again. I am still on a low dose of Tapazole, and ironically, my goiter has gone down significantly while my eyes continue to change. So, no kim chi for this gal for a long time!