About ten years ago, my knees were killing me. Stinging, aching pain that did not respond to remedies. Sometimes my whole legs felt sore and tired. Was I getting old so soon?
I am much into alternative health and nutrition, so I had heard about nightshade sensitive arthritis. But not until by sheer chance I ate no nightshade vegetables for a few days and woke up to the fact that I felt much better, did I think it might apply to me. Experimentation confirmed it. The longer I avoided them, the better. Eat some, the pain was back.
Apparently one may be genetically predisposed to a gradual loss of the ability to break down an alkaloid found only in this family of plants. And thus it gets absorbed unaltered into the bloodstream and causes inflammation and pain. This is also related to “leaky gut syndrome”, which lies at the root of a whole host of systemic problems.
People who get this younger seem to get it harder, with more allergy symptoms. One acquaintance of mine is severely reactive, even to airborne nightshade chemicals. Her mom cannot cut peppers when she is in the house or she will be choking and coughing, airway closing up. I pointed out that she had better never carry pepper spray for self defense, or the slightest drift could kill her.
GreenMed article
There may also be a variant of the receptors on pain nerves, which will bind to that alkaloid the way all mammals have receptors for capsaicin (and birds don't).
The above article maintains that certain berries have related chemicals which also cause inflammation. I do not confirm this in my experience.
So, nightshades had to go. That botanical family includes potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries, peppers both sweet and hot, eggplant, goji berries and ashwagandha. Oh, and tobacco, but I certainly didn't need that! Some medications are also derived from the poisonous nightshades like belladonna.
Now, white potatoes are boring anyway, and eggplant was small loss, IMHO. But oh, tomatoes and peppers! I do miss them.
You might be surprised how hard it is to find foods that don't have any nightshades. Since they were taken back to Europe and on to Asia from the New World in the 1500s, virtually every cuisine on Earth has adopted them enthusiastically. Condiments are a particular challenge. Almost every spice mix includes either paprika or cayenne! Scratch cooking, fortunately, is a hobby of mine, so what restaurants and grocery stores sell is not what I must eat.
Eating out is a serious challenge, and I rarely do so. But it can be done. Pizza with garlic sauce is fortunately available most places. A mushroom Swiss burger can sometimes be found. And buffets give lots of options that I can see what I'm getting. Chinese buffets sometimes clue you which dishes have hot peppers, the others are mostly OK.
I can make my own garlic sauce for homemade pizza.
I invented my own BBQ sauce, based on caramelized onions. Just had some BBQ chicken for Labor Day, nom nom nom.
2 large sweet onions, chopped
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder or 3 cloves fresh garlic
½ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. each black pepper, cloves, dry mustard
2 oz. vinegar
2 oz. molasses or honey
Caramelize the onions thoroughly, driving off most of the water, puree with the rest of the ingredients. May be processed in pint canning jars, 15 minutes at 10 lb. pressure.
I learned to make spaghetti carbonara, and white lasagna.
Spaghetti carbonara
Cook spaghetti noodles. Fry a few strips of bacon crisp, and crumble them. In the same pan, combine the noodles and bacon bits, an egg per serving, beaten, and Romano or Parmesan cheese. A bit of cream or half and half is an awesome addition. Cook and stir until egg is just barely set. Sprinkle with plenty of pepper. Garnish if you like.
Taco seasoning with no cayenne is surprisingly good. I keep some at work for when the menu is Mexican.
(Proportions, size to suit)
Salt 1
garlic 3
onion 3
pepper 1
cumin 3
sumac 3
oregano 1
thyme 1
sugar 2
Ground sumac is my replacement for paprika in many contexts. It makes deviled eggs pretty and lends color and a citrusy tang to the above spice mix.
Turns out a company called The Foraging Fox, based in the UK, makes a beetroot ketchup that is quite good. Finding it in the States is challenging, though.
Many Asian dishes are so complex in their spicing that they taste just wonderful without the traditional bite of hot peppers. I made my own curry powder too.
coriander 1 Tbsp.
onion powder 1 Tbsp.
cumin 2 tsp.
fenugreek 1 tsp.
turmeric 1 ½ tsp.
black pepper 1 tsp.
garlic 1 tsp.
2 bay leaves, midribs discarded
ginger ½ tsp.
celery seed ¼ tsp.
nutmeg ¼ tsp.
cloves ¼ tsp.
Grind all thoroughly and store tightly sealed.
A baked sweet potato can be stuffed with broccoli, mushrooms, bacon, sour cream, cheese. It isn't "the same", but it's good. Sweet potatoes can also make fries, or hash browns, but they don’t cook as crisp. I don’t do those very often.
Soups that call for potato may get parsnip chunks instead, or pasta, or be thickened with rice flour. Since I REALLY don’t miss mashed potatoes, I don’t do the cauliflower thing but I hear it’s good.
When I cook international night at the home, I have become adept at cooking a dish to a certain point, setting my serving aside in another pan to finish, and then adding the ingredients I cannot eat.
Saving one’s health by dietary changes can be challenging, but worth it.
Bon Appetit!