removal of nightshades from diet

[PhillyPA]

I am passing along information that has helped a friend of mine. Her son was never diagnosed as pandas. However, after repeated strep including peri-anal strep that took several rounds of antibiotics to get rid of - her son developed severe OCD, tics and hoarding issues. Her son was never put on preventative antibiotics. He still is not on them. The only thing that she did was to remove all nightshades from his diet. In her words, this cured him. He has been symptom free for two plus years. He still eats no nightshades.

 

I thought it was an interesting story. I am passing it along to all of you. For the record, I am not doing this diet but I thought some of you might be interested.

[Baylor]

I am passing along information that has helped a friend of mine. Her son was never diagnosed as pandas. However, after repeated strep including peri-anal strep that took several rounds of antibiotics to get rid of - her son developed severe OCD, tics and hoarding issues. Her son was never put on preventative antibiotics. He still is not on them. The only thing that she did was to remove all nightshades from his diet. In her words, this cured him. He has been symptom free for two plus years. He still eats no nightshades.

 

I thought it was an interesting story. I am passing it along to all of you. For the record, I am not doing this diet but I thought some of you might be interested.

 

interesting... I need to look into this..

[Baylor]

I am passing along information that has helped a friend of mine. Her son was never diagnosed as pandas. However, after repeated strep including peri-anal strep that took several rounds of antibiotics to get rid of - her son developed severe OCD, tics and hoarding issues. Her son was never put on preventative antibiotics. He still is not on them. The only thing that she did was to remove all nightshades from his diet. In her words, this cured him. He has been symptom free for two plus years. He still eats no nightshades.

 

I thought it was an interesting story. I am passing it along to all of you. For the record, I am not doing this diet but I thought some of you might be interested.

 

interesting... I need to look into this..

 

So i found this list.. much more extensive than I thought.

 

Main Offenders:

Eggplant

Potatoes (sweet potatoes are okay)

Sweet and Hot Peppers

Tomatoes

 

Alphabetized List:

Ascorbyl Palmitate (it’s potatoes)

Ashwagandha

Baking Powder? (according to this website it says “All baking powder [...] seems to contain potato, though it is not listed on the label.” I don’t know, though… there are some with corn starch instead of potato or the generic “starch” on the label)

Banana Peppers

Cayenne

Chayote

Chili Peppers

Datil

Eggplant

Goji Berries

Habanero

Hot Peppers (hmm, a generic catch-all, I think)

Jalapeno Peppers

Modified Food Starch (watch out for starch if it doesn’t say where it’s derived from)

Palmitate Vitamin A (I found this in margarine and milk, it’s potatoes)

Paprika (seems to be in all sorts of things: mayo, hotdogs, mustard, sausage)

Pepinos

Pickles (I’ve found that most pickles contain peppers :-( )

Pimentos

Potatoes (sweet potatoes are okay)

Shellac Wax (comes from Lac beetle that feeds on Wolfberry plants, found on shiny fruit and veggies, commonly not listed in ingredients)

Solanum

Starch (if it doesn’t say where it’s derived from, check with the manufacturer)

Sweet Peppers (black pepper is okay)

Thai Peppers

Tobacco

Tobasco

Tamarios

Tomatillos

Tomatoes

Vitamin A Palmitate (I’ve found in margerine, milk, ham, heavy cream, whipped cream, cheese - it’s potatoes)

Wax Peppers

Wolfberries

Yeast (according to this website “Most yeast contains potato, both baking yeast and beer yeast. Red Star yeast does not contain potato.”)

 

Herbs / Plants:

Banewort (another name for nightshade)

Belladonna / Atropa Belladonna (used in Homeopathy, found in Viagra)

Bittersweet (Atropine Belladonna)

Brugmansia

Datura

Devil’s Cherries (another name for nightshade)

Devil’s Herb (another name for nightshade)

Divale (another name for nightshade)

Dubiosia

Dwale (another name for nightshade)

Dwayberry (another name for nightshade)

Great Morel (another name for nightshade)

Henbane

Hyoscyamus

Jimson Weed

Mandrake

Mandragore

Nightshade / Deadly Nightshade

Petunias (yes, the flower)

 

Unsure of these:

Kava Kava – I saw this in a nightshades list somewhere else, but I’m thinking it’s just in the pepper family and not actually a nightshade. If someone could let me know to clear that up, that would be great!

Artichokes (I read that they contain solanine, but lost my source)

Blueberries (I read that they contain solanine, but lost my source)

Cherries, ground (this is “ground cherries” as in cherries that grow close to the ground – not chopped cherries. It was mentioned in a forum somewhere)

Huckleberries (I read that they contain solanine, but lost my source)

Okra (I read that they contain solanine, but lost my source)

 

Questionable: (check with manufacturer to see where derived from)

Cellulose

Dextrins

Dextrose (can be potatoes, check your salt and baking powder ingredients!)

Lactic acid (generally made from fermented corn or potatoes)

Magnesium Stearate

Maltodextrin / Mdltrin (can be derived from potato or corn)

Starch

 

Chemicals / Drugs / Medicines:

Acrylamide

Aspirin – can contain nightshades?

Atropine

Chaconine

Hyoscine (another name for scopolamine)

Nicotine

Scopolamine (common in motion sickness meds)

Solanine

Viagra (contains belladonna)

 

NOT Nightshades:

Black Pepper

White Pepper

Green Peppercorns (not bell pepper)

Sichuan Pepper

Tasmannia

Long Pepper

 

Also toxic:

Brazilian Pepper

Cauliflower (contains nicotine, I mention this because I want to avoid nicotine)

 

Other Foods that I react to (that are not nightshades… Salicylates?):

Radishes – causes swelling and not sleeping well (very high in salicylates)

Pink Grapefruit – anaphylaxis (high in salicylates)

Pink Lady apples – anaphylaxis (high in salicylates also has Lac Resin on them which is a nightshade)

Carrageenan / Agar – causes food addiction. I found it in turkey lunch meat and toothpaste (comes from a red seaweed). I also read that it might cause low blood pressure (I have this problem).

Alginate – this is a seaweed as well, so I’m putting it on my list just in case I react to it like carrageenan

Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) – another word for seaweed

Carmine (red dye) – causes anaphylaxis. Found in desserts, cosmetics, crayons? Also named E120.

Cochineal (red dye) – causes anaphylaxis. Found in grapefruit juice, cosmetics

Red Dye #2 – causes anaphylaxis. Used to dye the skin of oranges, used in desserts

Bacon – is commonly cured with pepper spices.

Sausage – commonly includes pepper spice.

Annatto color – comes from the red seeds of the Achiote Tree. There’s that red color again.

Mango – ? I have a question mark here because I think it’s what caused a reaction in a lip balm- unsure, though.

 

 

http://nightshadejournal.com/2010/12/my-complete-listing-of-nightshades-and-foods-that-contain-solanine/

[PowPow]

There is a book, maybe called the anti-inflammatory diet?

A family member with AS & another with Crohn's have this book and were going to try it but honestly-- it was too intensive to consider and frankly, went against most of the conventional "healthy diet" thinking.

I am not saying that it is not valid in decreasing inflammation-- just too darn difficult to wrap my head around!

[Christianmom]

I am passing along information that has helped a friend of mine. Her son was never diagnosed as pandas. However, after repeated strep including peri-anal strep that took several rounds of antibiotics to get rid of - her son developed severe OCD, tics and hoarding issues. Her son was never put on preventative antibiotics. He still is not on them. The only thing that she did was to remove all nightshades from his diet. In her words, this cured him. He has been symptom free for two plus years. He still eats no nightshades.

 

I thought it was an interesting story. I am passing it along to all of you. For the record, I am not doing this diet but I thought some of you might be interested.

 

Did your friend's son have symptoms of nightshades allergies ("sleepiness, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, in the first hour after ingesting nightshades and often migraine headaches") that made your friend avoid the nightshades for her son? Or did her son just have the severe OCD and tic symptoms?

[PhillyPA]

No symptoms of nightshade allergies. Just OCD,especially hording, and tics.

 

Her son was and is completely neuro typical. This was sudden onset.

[Christianmom]

Hi PhillyPA,

I mentioned this post to my naturopath and he asked if you could specifically ask this person what foods they avoided that helped. In other words, did avoiding certain nightshade foods help more than others? Thank you.

[P_Mom]

Pam...

 

Do you know if this child has had strep in the past two years?

[thereishope]

To me, it sounds like it was strep induced PANDAS that continued to be aggravated by a possible allergy/sensitivity to nightshades or certain foods. Once they eliminated that allergy/sensitivity, recovery was able to finish. Some kids can go on to be symptom free without antibiotics as long as that foundation of a calm immune system is in place to allow the body to heal. So, even though her child is symptom free and can maintain that without any abx, if strep were to hit any part of his body again, she may see a resurfacing of symptoms. Has her child had strep without any PANDAS symptoms (or I should say PANDAS like symptoms since the child does not have a diagnosis)since the original onset?

[PhillyPA]

I will check into all of your questions and get back to you.

 

Her children have always been home schooled so their contact with other kids is minimal.

[keeptrying]

I will check into all of your questions and get back to you.

 

Her children have always been home schooled so their contact with other kids is minimal.

it would be great to know too how long it took your friend to see symptoms improve after the removal of the nightshades. Did symptoms stop completely? Thanks for finding out more info for us.

[PhillyPA]

This is what she did:

 

Cognitive Behavorial Therapy

Naturopathic remedies

Diet of little wheat and dairy

Removal of ALL nightshades

 

OCD behaviors decreased over 4-5 month period.

 

Still on a reduced dairy, wheat, and nightshade diet but not super strict.

 

No strep since that time. No increased anxiety with illness or colds.

 

She credits the cognitive behavioral therapy as being extremely helpful.

[dcmom]

Interesting. Would be hard to attribute any improvement to diet.

 

Not having strep seems like the best way to prevent recurrence

 

Four to Five months is a long time.....