Some nightshade plants are poisonous, others are renowned for their healing and restorative properties.
What is a Nightshade?
Nightshade is a term used to describe the Solanaceae family of plants. Solanaceae includes the famous psychoactive "deadly nightshade" or belladonna, as well as some of the most common edible plants. Members of the nightshade family include:
- potatoes
- tomatoes
- bell peppers
- eggplant
- tobacco
- petunias
- mandrake
- hot peppers (capsicum)
- wolfberries
Solanaceae is also known as the potato family.
Problem Nightshades
Holistic practitioners often recommend avoiding nightshades in the diet, especially to patients suffering from arthritis or other types of pain and inflammation.
"Foods from the nightshade family tend to exacerbate any inflammatory conditions you might have," says Tom Woloshyn in The Complete Master Cleanse (2007). "They may also cause headaches and trigger migraines in some people."
The nightshades most often warned against are tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes and eggplant. Avoiding tobacco, another nightshade, goes without saying in health-conscious circles.
Nightshades, Inflammation and Pain
How and why do nightshades contribute to inflammation and pain? Nightshade plants are known for producing a range of alkaloid chemicals, which may be toxic – from irritating to lethal. These chemicals can also contribute to allergic reactions.
Alkaloids produced by the nightshade family:
- nicotine in tobacco
- hallucinogenic and deadly tropane alkaloids in belladonna
- mildly irritating alkaloids in tomatoes, potatoes, and other food nightshades
As a group, nightshades have a bad reputation in alternative health circles and many practitioners recommend avoiding tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant, or eliminating them from the diet entirely – especially if you are seeking to eliminate chronic pain symptoms or headaches.
Healthy Nightshades
Despite their bad name, there are two nightshades renowned for their nutritional healing properties: wolfberries and cayenne pepper.
Cayenne
Ground from the pods and seeds of capsicum peppers, cayenne is recommended by herbologists and healers as a catalyst. It breaks down mucus and toxins, warms the body, boosts metabolism, and increases the strength of other herbs it is combined with. (Woloshyn, 2007)
Cayenne pepper is one of only four ingredients in the master cleanse, a liquid monodiet used to cleanse the body of stored toxins, inflammation, and to boost energy and vitality.
Wolfberries
One of the three most famous healing plants in China, wolfberries have only recently been brought to North America, where they have swept across the wellness market.
The berries, especially the variety grown in Ningxia (the Ningxia wolfberry), are famous for their high content of protein, vitamins and minerals and for their ability to aid in fighting almost any disease condition.
Wolfberries have been researched for their ability to boost energy, strengthen the pancreas and reverse diabetes, and to reduce cancerous tumors – all due to the long wolfberry polysaccharides (complex sugars). (Young, Lawrence and Schreuder, 2005)
Both cayenne and wolfberries, however, are the exception to the nightshade rule: Neither has significant toxicity and despite warnings about other nightshades, both wolfberries and cayenne pepper are universally recommended for health.
Reference
Woloshyn, Tom, The Complete Master Cleanse. Ulysses Press, 2007.
Young, Gary, Ronald Lawrence and Marc Schreuder, Discovery of the Ultimate Superfood. Essential Science Publishing, 2005.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
Join the Conversation