Nightshades

Avoid nightshades

Nightshades are high in lectins, and can lead to auto-immune diseases. Liver pain, bloating and an increase in joint pain also can result from eating nightshade plants.

Tomatoes, Eggplant, Starfruit, Tobacco, Belladonna, Peppers, Starfruit, Goji

Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, starfruit, tobacco, belladonna, peppers, starfruit, goji are all part of the nightshade family. These grouping of plants are especially harmful for PKD'rs. They increase purines, uric acid, solanine, and oxalates. Eggplant (aubergine) and tomatoes have teeny tiny seeds that can sometimes get caught in diverticula, (little outpouchings of the intestinal wall) and the indigestible seeds can get stuck in these outpouchings and cause pain, inflammation, and infection. Nightshades can release solanine which interferes with calcium absorption. With a rise in phosphorus, calcium sometimes diminishes as the kidneys begin to lose their functioning. If you choose to eat these vegetables, try eating fresh from the garden, in season, and ripe. Avoid vegetables from a can, bottle, or frozen as the packaging can contain BHA, BHT harmful to PKD.

Some nightshades:
Belladonna
Goji
Eggplant
Paprika
Pepinos
Peppers
Potato
Starfruit
Tomato
Tomatillo
Tobacco

Nightshades are high in oxalates and this can lead to oxalate poisoning, especially with individuals with PKD. With PKD, many have diverticulitis which are part of the extra renal effects of PKD. These diverticuli are little out pouching within the intestines. Tiny seeds from tomatoes and eggplant can become trapped in these out pouching causing pain and inflammation. Potatoes consistently give liver aches and increase bloating time and time again. Tobacco is harmful for a body no matter how you look at it. Peppers can increase blood vessel formation but at a cost— liver ache results. To substitute for potatoes try turnips, rutabagas, or sweet potatoes. Before the potato was discovered from the new world, from the Americas, in France they were eating the sun choke and roasted chestnuts as side dishes to accompany a meal.

Chestnuts

Replacing potatoes with chestnuts have been a European favorite. Around the holidays local street vendors sell hot roasted chestnuts. Alas testing has shown street vendor chestnuts contain high levels of mold. If you can find a local chestnut tree or assure the chestnuts you obtain have no mold then here is a recipe for roasting chestnuts in an oven. And here is a video for chestnut polenta. Once roasted, chestnuts can be ground into a gluten free flour. Immersing chestnuts in hot water helps cooking of chestnuts.

Mold is most prominent in peanuts, even those grown organically. A yellow mold from Aspergillus grows when the temperature is warm and moist. This converts to aflatoxin (liver cancer carcinogen) seen mostly on peanuts. Aflatoxin can cause liver cancer when a person eats a greater than 5% protein diet. In 1960, mold-contaminated with aflatoxin peanut meal was fed to millions of turkeys that died of liver toxicity.

Nightshades

Nightshade plants are to be avoided, too high in potassium, oxalates, solanine. All members of the nightshade family can cause liver pain, intense pains sometimes stabbing sometimes cramping. Some experience an increase in reflux; for others simply joint pain.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant all have little seeds that can get caught in diverticula, which is for some a significant manifestation of PKD and PLD.

Potatoes

A potato is high in potassium. Today many root vegetables are dipped in Bud-nip or chlorpropham before coming to market. Some find that by soaking a potato in lemon water and peeling it may diminish the potassium content. Potato skins are said to be high in magnesium which may help thicken thinning hair and restore the natural color to graying hair. Avoid fried or high heated potato as this easily converts to acrylamide - producing more acrylamide, hence deep-fried potato chips and French fries will be much higher in acrylamide. The potato starch has a particular affinity for changing into acrylamide with heat, even more so than wheat flour. French fries, crisps, and chips are harmful due to their high acrylamide. If you like baked potatoes, try substituting sun chokes in season May through November - or sweet potatoes - so many varieties from deep purple with white skin called Ube or Okinawa Sweet Potatoes, to the familiar orange colored sweet potato with a rosy skin. Friends in Germany (A big potato country, Germans enjoy their potatoes) now eat roasted sweet potatoes, pumpkin, sunchokes, and squash for their starch with their evening meals. In Japan villages that eat lotus root as their starch have lower rates of liver disease throughout their community.

Eggplant

Eggplant, aubergine, increases purines, uric acid, solanine, and oxalates. Eggplant and tomatoes have teeny tiny seeds. Many of us PKD'rs get diverticula, (little outpouchings of the intestinal wall) and the indigestible seeds can become stuck in these outpouchings resulting in pain, inflammation, and infection. Nightshades release solanine which interferes with calcium absorption. With later stages of PKD, phosphorus rises and calcium diminishes as PKD kidneys lose functioning. Just leave moussaka aside and try something else on the menu.

Why avoid nightshades?

Nightshade plants are high in a particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, which can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function. Because the amount of alkaloids is very low in nightshade foods, health problems from nightshade foods may only occur in individuals who are highly sensitive to these alkaloid substances. Cooking only lowers alkaloid content of nightshade foods by about 40-50%. Nightshades also contain solanine and oxalates, two harmful substances.

Do nightshades cause muscle weakness?

They all contain a toxin that most people can properly handle, but some of us are unable to properly process, the result is lots of pain from fibromyalgia, arthritis. It is not to be confused with a conventional food allergy; one doctor explains that there's not an actual allergic reaction to the toxin, just that it isn't being filtered out like it should perhaps for some genetic reason. The toxin causes muscle failure. Farm animals that accidentally eat nightshade vines lose strength in their muscles, collapse on the ground and die after a while.

Starfruit can be deadly to someone with chronic kidney disease.

Avoid starfruit, a known kidney toxin. Some PKD individuals get kidney shut down from eating too many oxalates contained in starfruit. This can result in irreversible kidney failure and even death.