Nightshade AVOID

If you have PKD, cystic kidneys, the docs at the conference have said that nightshade plants are to be avoided, too high in potassium and too high in solanine. I avoid nightshades because I have PLD and all members of the nightshade family cause me liver pain, intense pains sometimes stabbing sometimes cramping. I have repeated this over and over again, with similar results. Some experience an increase in reflux; for me they simply cause pain.
Some nightshades are: Tomato   Potato   Belladonna   Peppers   Eggplant  Tobacco is something, which everyone knows, is harmful but when this exists as a long-standing the tobacco habit it is often very difficult to stop. Belladonna is the only one called deadly nightshade. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant all have little seeds that can get caught in diverticuli, which is for some a significant manifestation of PKD and PLD.
A potato is high in potassium. Some find that by soaking a potato in lemon water and peeling it first, this may diminish the potassium content. I personally enjoy only potato skins. These are said to be high in magnesium and are said to help thicken thinning hair and restore the natural color to graying hair. I do advocate avoiding fried or heated to a high heat means of cooking a potato. Potato starch easily converts to acrylamides - higher heats produce more acrylamides, hence deep-FRIED potato products will have a much higher level than baked goods. Hot stone ovens don't get internal food temps as high as hot oil frying, plus the potato starch has a particular affinity for changing into acrylamide with heat, even more so than flour starch. French fries, crisps, and chips are harmful due to their high acrylamides. Potatoes contain high amounts of aflatoxin and are to be avoided. Peppers and eggplant I avoid due to kidney pain. If you like baked potatoes, try as a substitute sun chokes which happen to be in season May through November - or sweet potatoes - so many varieties of these from deep purple with white skin variety called Ube or Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, to the familiar orange colored sweet potato with a rosy skin.
Friends in Germany (a big potato country. Germans love their potatoes.) now eat roasted sweet potatoes, pumpkin, sunchokes, squash and chestnuts for their starch with their evening meals. Tomatoes sometimes trigger acid reflux or GERD which is a problem for many individuals with growing cystic organs. I have read and tried to remove the seeds and skins of tomatoes. But this causes the same pains in me. Peppers is something I really love also. These sometimes burn going through the system. The sweet peppers are delicious roasted. I have put these all aside. In place of this I have zucchini squash grilled, or crocked neck grilled squash on warm days when these vegetables are in season.
                                                                      

Why do you avoid nightshade plantS:   TOMATOES, POTATOES, PEPPERS, EGGPLANT, BELLADONNA, & TOBACCO?

NIGHTSHADE VEGETABLES - AVOID
Nightshade plants are high in solanine, and oxalates, two harmful substances. Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, tobacco, belladonna, peppers are all part of the nightshade family. These grouping of plants are especially harmful for PKD'rs. These increase purines, uric acid, solanine, and oxalates. Eggplant (aubergine) and tomatoes have teeny tiny seeds. Many of us PKD'rs get diverticuli, (little outpouchings of the intestinal wall) and the indigestible seeds can get stuck in these outpouchings and cause pain, inflammation, and infection. These vegetables 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 them fresh from the garden, in season, and not from a can, bottle, or frozen and no more frequently than once a week.

POTATOES - AVOID
I have observed, particularly with males with PKD, as they near diminished PKD kidney functioning they seem to crave steak and potatoes. This kicks them over toward dialysis or dramatically reduced kidney functioning. I am not sure of the reasons for this effect. It could be the high potassium, not really sure. Nightshade plants are to be avoided and for males especially avoid the potato. Other vegetables can be substituted in place of the potato: rutabagas [swedes], turnips, gobi, sunchokes Jerusalem artichokes or other root vegetables. Here is a recipe for cauliflower puree, one substitute for mashed potatoes. Potato Chips, Deep Fried Potatoes are particularly harmful to all human beings because of their high acrylamide content.are high in solanine. Solanine creates acids within the body. Potatoes, are high in potassium. Potassium is sometimes restricted as one approaches the need for dialysis. If you really love potatoes then perhaps no more often than once a week to have one in season roasted with the skin. I used to eat only the potato skins. I never enjoyed the white fleshy part of the potato, only the crispy dried baked skins. Potato skins are known to be very high in magnesium and manganese, both nutrients are said to be essential to keep ones hair its natural color and to also help maintain a full head of hair. When potatoes are fried the heated oil becomes altered chemically and causes a depleting the body's antioxidants and Vitamin E. If one is interested in gaining weight then eating a potato with a protein such as meat will facilitate this. It has to do with different digestive enzymes released by the body in response to different things eaten. Before the early settlers came to the Americas, the nightshades never existed for Europe. Germans often roasted chestnuts to enjoy with game foods. The sunchoke is very healthy, easy to grow, and a delicious substitute for potatoes. The sunchoke provides inulin, a carbohydrate, that is beneficial for the pancreas, livers and kidneys. Another useful vegetable are turnips, truly wonderful with lamb. I peel the turnips, then soak them in a bowl with lemon juice and ice, while I finish peeling all the turnips. This adds to the flavor so when they are steamed, they taste delicious. The sweet potato and yams are both high in B vitamins something we are oftentimes low in with PKD. Sweet potatoes, yams, and winter squash are all healthy substitutes for the potato.
TOBACCO - AVOID
There are several articles on tobacco's effect of speeding up end stage renal disease of PKD. Smoking while on dialysis lessens the life of the shunt. Tobacco causes lung cancer but more commonly affects the heart.
BELLADONNA - AVOID
Drops are used for infants to lessen diarrhea episodes. Its name is derived from medieval women using it to create a beautiful sparkle to their eyes. Belladonna is the only one called deadly nightshade.
PEPPERS - AVOID
Chili peppers increase the body's circulation. Occasionally I will have a fresh chili pepper from the garden. I especially craved these following my liver resection. I needed to coax my body to lay down new blood vessels for my remaining liver remnant.
EGGPLANT - AVOID
I have not found a way to remove all the little seeds. These can become lodged in diverticuli, a common finding with PKD. So I just leave the moussaka aside and try something else on the menu.
TOMATOES - AVOID
I grew these in my first garden. I have avoided all nightshades. In addition to being high in solanine and oxalates, they cause my joints to ache. I am much healthier and pain free since stopping nightshade plants.

Do the nightshade plants cause muscle weakness?
I do not know. Here is one person's take on this.

" They all contain a toxin that most people can properly handle, but some of us are unable to properly process, the result being lots of pain from fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc. It is not to be confused with a conventional "food allergy"; my 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 those nightshade vines lose strength in their muscles, collapse on the ground and die after a while. "