Know the reasons why you should limit intake of nightshade vegetables.

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The word Nightshade reminds us of a comic book character. Well, it’s no coincidence that one of our favourite comic heroes Mandrake is named after a nightshade plant. Nightshades are a group of vegetables that contains alkaloids like solanidine, capsaicin, nicotine and tropane which can sometimes be toxic. Don’t be fooled by the exotic name; you eat some of these vegetables on a daily basis. In fact, your staples like tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, potatoes and brinjal belong to this category. Many health experts advise against eating these vegetables because they can supposedly worsen inflammation in the body.

Solanine damages the body during stress

The alkaloid solanidine in nightshade tubers like potatoes and veggies like tomatoes and brinjal (egg plant) can be bad for health according to a study . According to the research, the alkaloid is absorbed during digestion and stored in the body for a long time. But when you undergo instances of metabolic stress like pregnancy, starvation and other illnesses, solanidine is released into the body and can cause great harm to your health.

Nightshades can worsen arthritis in menopausal women

If you are someone who constantly suffers from joint pains, it would be wise to cut these vegetables out of your diet for good. A study conducted in 2012 in Egypt concludes that in old age and during menopause, women should eliminate nightshade plants to alleviate joint pain and to lessen destruction of tissues.

There have been cases of poisoning

There have been instances where nightshade vegetables have caused poisoning. A group of school boys in a South-East London school experienced diarrhoea and vomiting after eating potatoes for lunch at the school. On investigating, it was found that the potato had 25-30mg of solanine, which was considerable more than the normal range (10 mg).