Who's An Expert On Nightshades?

[Guest andie]

I have been hearing more and more about nightshades lately.

My son has been relatively gluten free for about 4 months. Showed alot of improvement over that time. Not as much improvement as my husband though.

Now my son complains daily of nausea. He swears he is not cheating at school. (In fact he has phoned to come home the last two days due to nausea.)

We tried making him lactose free. No improvement.

I did the candida quiz. He barely qualifies..

I have been really strict with the diet. Nothing.

I checked all the product labels for soap, shampoo, toothpaste. (Not that they're very revealing.)

This has been going on for nearly 2 weeks. So its not a bug.

It wakes him up at least twice in the night. It seems to be worse at night. He snacks before going to bed.

Our next experiment will be to have supper earlier, therefore snack earlier and have stomach rest time before bed.

Now after reading all the posts on nightshades, I wonder about stopping those foods. Potatoes are a main staple in his diet. My husband is not having the same symptoms, but complaining of feeling hungry all the time.

Do I have to actually put him on those restrictions to find out if that's what it is? Or will allergy testing tell me what I want to know?

What are the primary foods to avoid? Are these foods listed on most labels? Can nightshades be a hidden ingredient, like 'artificial flavours'?

Is there a good web site to answer all these questions and give a list of symptoms for this allergy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Andie

[Fiddle-Faddle]

You might pm Ursa Major--she is our resident expert on nightshades and lectins!

[Jestgar]

allergy testing isn't specific enough to help you. There are too many false positives and false negatives.

Try cutting out potatoes for a while and see if it makes a difference. Maybe he just has a slight sensitivity and he's gotten overloaded recently.

[rinne]

Hi, the nightshade family includes tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco (not that that would be a problem for him) and potatoes of course.

Nightshades are toxic but more so to some than others, they are an inflamatory and are often avoided by folks with arthritis.

You can see I am no expert but if you are going to restrict potatoes to see if he improves then it would be wise to cut out the ketchup, etc.

Sorry to hear that he is still having problems, I hope you can figure it out soon.

[Ursa Major]

It sounds to me like it may be dairy. Not just lactose, but rather casein, meaning ALL dairy! I have never had a problem with nausea after eating nightshades myself. Potatoes will give me diarrhea and rumbling in the intestines as well as joint pains, back pain and headaches. Tomatoes give me terrible migraines and mild stomach problems, peppers make me break out in awful pus-filled pimples all over my face.

But dairy will make me nauseous. I wouldn't dare ever drink a glass of milk (the last time I tried that is many years ago), as it will give me an instant sharp stomach pain, followed by nausea and just a general feeling of unwellness that lasts many hours. And that goes for lactose free milk as well.

[Guest andie]

Thanx for your suggestions. They give me somewhere to start.

Andie

  Ursa Major said:

It sounds to me like it may be dairy. Not just lactose, but rather casein, meaning ALL dairy! I have never had a problem with nausea after eating nightshades myself. Potatoes will give me diarrhea and rumbling in the intestines as well as joint pains, back pain and headaches. Tomatoes give me terrible migraines and mild stomach problems, peppers make me break out in awful pus-filled pimples all over my face.

But dairy will make me nauseous. I wouldn't dare ever drink a glass of milk (the last time I tried that is many years ago), as it will give me an instant sharp stomach pain, followed by nausea and just a general feeling of unwellness that lasts many hours. And that goes for lactose free milk as well.

[Judyin Philly]

hi good luck with your little fella.

also ck out the thread Patti put up on Oxalates / nightshades and agree on the milk.

judy

[aschev]

This is my first post, but I have been nightshade-free for almost 11 years (for arthritis), and diagnosed celiac since January 2007.

My son was diagnosed as lactose intolerant when he was about 10, and his main symptom was nausea immediately after eating/drinking a high-lactose food. His Pediatric GI doctor said this was a common symptom in children (not so common in adults.) The interesting thing to me is that the nausea was immediate - there wasn't time for the food to even reach the stomach! So my conclusion was that he was reacting to something in milk, in addition to being lactose intolerant. He's OK now, and can drink LactAid milk without nausea.

Now to help with some of your nightshade questions:

  Quote

What are the primary foods to avoid? Are these foods listed on most labels? Can nightshades be a hidden ingredient, like 'artificial flavours'?

Others have already identified the primary foods, and pointed out that exposure to tobacco smoke can also affect nightshade-sensitive individuals. As with glutens, nightshades can be very difficult to completely eliminate. The things that tripped me up the first year or two were mainly spices. Keep in mind that paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and red pepper are all names of peppers in the nightshade family. Paprika is often used to color foods, and as such is commonly listed as an ingredient. The others may just be listed as "spices." I stay away from any product that has "spices" as an ingredient.

Mustard commonly contains some form of pepper, but I've had luck with a store brand yellow mustard that didn't list "spices" as an ingredient (Harris Teeter.) I use a plum catsup recipe in place of ketchup or barbecue sauce. I make my own salad dressings or use oil and vinegar when eating out. Au Jus served in restaurants, in addition to often containing glutens, also often contains potato starch. Shredded cheeses and pretzels and many crackers often contain potato starch. You also need to read the label each time you buy a product, since ingredients often change.

In addition to severe joint inflammation from peppers, potatoes cause me very painful upper chest bloating. I find that the smallest bit of an ingredient (one errant piece of pepper cooked in some food, and removed) will still cause my symptoms. So I would say you will need to completely remove all nightshades from his diet in order to determine if this is an issue for him.

Good luck!

[Guest andie]

That's very helpful. Thanx

Andie

  aschev said:

This is my first post, but I have been nightshade-free for almost 11 years (for arthritis), and diagnosed celiac since January 2007.

My son was diagnosed as lactose intolerant when he was about 10, and his main symptom was nausea immediately after eating/drinking a high-lactose food. His Pediatric GI doctor said this was a common symptom in children (not so common in adults.) The interesting thing to me is that the nausea was immediate - there wasn't time for the food to even reach the stomach! So my conclusion was that he was reacting to something in milk, in addition to being lactose intolerant. He's OK now, and can drink LactAid milk without nausea.

Now to help with some of your nightshade questions:

Others have already identified the primary foods, and pointed out that exposure to tobacco smoke can also affect nightshade-sensitive individuals. As with glutens, nightshades can be very difficult to completely eliminate. The things that tripped me up the first year or two were mainly spices. Keep in mind that paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and red pepper are all names of peppers in the nightshade family. Paprika is often used to color foods, and as such is commonly listed as an ingredient. The others may just be listed as "spices." I stay away from any product that has "spices" as an ingredient.

Mustard commonly contains some form of pepper, but I've had luck with a store brand yellow mustard that didn't list "spices" as an ingredient (Harris Teeter.) I use a plum catsup recipe in place of ketchup or barbecue sauce. I make my own salad dressings or use oil and vinegar when eating out. Au Jus served in restaurants, in addition to often containing glutens, also often contains potato starch. Shredded cheeses and pretzels and many crackers often contain potato starch. You also need to read the label each time you buy a product, since ingredients often change.

In addition to severe joint inflammation from peppers, potatoes cause me very painful upper chest bloating. I find that the smallest bit of an ingredient (one errant piece of pepper cooked in some food, and removed) will still cause my symptoms. So I would say you will need to completely remove all nightshades from his diet in order to determine if this is an issue for him.

Good luck!

[modiddly16]

Where's this Michael Fowler person now? He pitched this huge book and topic on this forum about nightshades...and he hasn't commented on this thread when someone needs his expertise. I find it fishy!

I do hope everyone feels better soon

[Guest andie]

Who the heck is Michael Fowler? (I guess that's your point!)

Andie

  modiddly16 said:

Where's this Michael Fowler person now? He pitched this huge book and topic on this forum about nightshades...and he hasn't commented on this thread when someone needs his expertise. I find it fishy!

I do hope everyone feels better soon

[Ursa Major]

  andie said:

Who the heck is Michael Fowler? (I guess that's your point!)

Andie

No, it is obvious who he is, you can buy his book from Amazon. What she thinks is fishy is that it looks like he only came here to advertise his book, not to help people.

[aschev]

One more suggestion on eating out: The following menu items at Outback Steakhouse work well for a nightshade-free diet:

Prime rib with no au jus (make sure to ask them to not have your steak ever touch the au jus - that's often how they warm up the meat before they serve it to you), sweet potato, house salad (no croutons)

Or grilled salmon with no spices cooked on a clean grill, sweet potato or steamed veggies, house salad.

These are more adult meals, but I've found Outback in general to be very helpful. One conversation with the head chef should provide you with some similar kid-friendly options.

Before my diet got even more restrictive, I would carry a little card to give to the waiter to have the chef check over. It said "NO white potatoes, red/green/yellow peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, chili powder, red/cayenne pepper, paprika PLEASE." It helped immensely!

Good luck!

[Guest andie]

that's an excellent idea! it would be difficult for a waiter/waitress to remember a long list of 'can't haves' or 'don't adds' and relay it to someone else who is probably very busy. the card would also act as a reminder when they made it up.

As to the Micheal Fowler thing, I'm very new to this and have not had time to research all the literature. No offense intented. Sorry.

Andie

  aschev said:

One more suggestion on eating out: The following menu items at Outback Steakhouse work well for a nightshade-free diet:

Prime rib with no au jus (make sure to ask them to not have your steak ever touch the au jus - that's often how they warm up the meat before they serve it to you), sweet potato, house salad (no croutons)

Or grilled salmon with no spices cooked on a clean grill, sweet potato or steamed veggies, house salad.

These are more adult meals, but I've found Outback in general to be very helpful. One conversation with the head chef should provide you with some similar kid-friendly options.

Before my diet got even more restrictive, I would carry a little card to give to the waiter to have the chef check over. It said "NO white potatoes, red/green/yellow peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, chili powder, red/cayenne pepper, paprika PLEASE." It helped immensely!

Good luck!

[modiddly16]

  Ursa Major said:

No, it is obvious who he is, you can buy his book from Amazon. What she thinks is fishy is that it looks like he only came here to advertise his book, not to help people.

Ursa Major got me!! I just found it strange that he joined to discuss nightshades (he taught me, being that I had no idea what they were) but them seemed to only pitch his book when here was a perfect opportunity to prove his expertise...eh..but sometimes I try to be a detective...maybe I should stick to my day job, who knows

[Michael Fowler]

Greetings all,

Where is Michael Fowler? Well, first I had no idea this thread was here. Second, quite a bit of grief came my way for the mention of a certain book, on this forum. Be that as it may, I write email's constantly helping people with questions about nightshades. And, will do my best to answer any questions. Being the Nightshade free crusader is far more trouble than it is worth, but many people are suffering like I was, and I want to help.

Please feel free to look up my information on my profile, and how to contact me.

  Quote

Now my son complains daily of nausea. He swears he is not cheating at school. (In fact he has phoned to come home the last two days due to nausea.)

Andie

Hi Andie,

For me when I was his age, nausea was THE sign of nightshades, sometimes with sweating, cramps, dizziness, etc. Who know what goes into school food. Modified Food Starch is general made from potatoes, this can be a source, as it is in everything. Commercial white breads are food of solanine, as they use potato water to make the bread so it stays soft longer.

Well this post might be a bit late, but hopefully it helps.

Michael