Eight days of nightshade freedom and I haven’t been really well yet. Well, earlier today I thought I was better. But then I had supper and my hand and my knees and my legs hurt.
I decided to put in currants, since that’s the only thing I ate tonight that’s not normal for me. And it’s not a nightshade, but it is high phenol and so are nightshades. So maybe it’s a high phenol intolerance and not just a nightshade allergy. That would be bad, though.
Here is a short list of high phenol foods, which you would want to eliminate or at least reduce to prevent overload, is food dyes, tomatoes, apples, peanuts, bananas, oranges, cocoa, red grapes, colored fruits, and milk.
Here is the Feingold list of highly phenolic/high salicylate foods: Avoid anything — food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, art supplies — that has any of the following ingredients: Synthetic/artificial colors and flavors [for example, FD&C colors, vanillin], BHA, BHT, TBHQ, [all the preceding are made from or related to petroleum], Natural Flavoring (may contain salicylate), Natural Coloring (may contain salicylate), Aspirin and products containing aspirin or salicylic acid, Salicylates, Almonds, Apples, Apricots, Berries (all), Cherries, Chili powder, Cider & cider vinegar (apples), Cloves, Coffee, Cucumbers & pickles, Currants, Grapes & raisins, Nectarines, Oranges, Paprika, Peaches, Peppers (bell & chili), Plums, Prunes, Tangerines, Tea, Tomatoes, Wine & wine vinegar (grapes), Oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate). Other items to consider are perfumes and fragrances, nitrites and nitrates, monosodium glutamate [MSG], Hydrolized Vegetable Protein [may contain MSG], sulfites/sulfiting agents, benzoates, and corn syrup [made from hydrogen sulfide + corn starch and many other added chemicals].
from Angelfire on Autism
I know I have bad allergic reactions to some fragrances, like my mother’s favorite Red. And apparently I need to drop currants from my diet. Too bad. I was really enjoying them. I’ve only been eating them about a year. I like them a lot. (Maybe that should have been a hint to me.)
Other related posts:
Discussion of solanine in nightshades and how it isn’t really an allergy. But it acts like one. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” And an allergy by any other name hurts.
A collection of internet comments on nightshades that were relevant to me or my family.
Night Shade Allergies, my post with the most comments, I think.
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I feel like I have walked into a universe that is made up of people who are like me! I have long suspected that nightshades were not good for me but didn’t realize how bad it was. I started experimenting with potatoes and if I ate them at night I was sure to have sacrum pain the next day I have steadily gone downhill- leg pain, hip pain, fatigue etc. I was looking into the blood type diet and that led to autism websites and eventually to you and I think this is were I will start to find the answers I need. Thank you
p.s. does anyone suffer from restless leg?
Yes, I have restless leg. It is actually better if I avoid nightshades.
I have some posts on nightshades here at MyOwnThoughts, but it’s not a medical blog. It’s just about my life. However, I have tried to corral any useful information into nightshade posts.
There are several of those on the blog.
what can we eat ?
Corn. Black pepper. Green beans made with bacon or onions (or not, I’m thinking taste). Meat of any kind. Fruits.
hi ,, isn’t bacon “cure ” so ,,, some of those spices are bad .. please help me .. i need to know what to eat ..i’m waiting on a book .. it’s on back order ..
THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had forgotten how many things were on the high phenol list. I’ve been assiduously avoiding the nightshades since the end of June, though I have accidentally gotten some twice. I should be far beyond the limit of pain, but I am not. Then I read back over my blog and found this post on phenol and I’m thinking that I might just as well give up eating.
That was my mother’s reaction though and she’s dead at 64 with three years of mental instability before that. I don’t want to go that route. I need to reconsider my willingness to eat these foods.
I just had pickles and cucumbers last night, and have all my symptoms back. Seeing your high phenol list is making sense to me. Plus I’m dealing with candida at the moment, to add insult to injury, so I am having a day where I feel like giving up. Turkey bacon, eggs, protein and salad is my diet. I just need to remember there is a treatment for this. Not easy, but a treatment all the same.
Hi! The last days i have noticed that i get restless legs when i eat nightshades. I was looking for information about nightshades, and i found your blog. It feels just so odd to get restless legs from nightshades, to odd to talk about it. :)/Anna, Sweden
Did you have any luck following a low phenol diet? I have an established allergy to the nightshade family and a developing allergy to phenol. At this point I’m exploring the line between phenol problems and separate allergy problems.
I didn’t actually go on the low phenol diet. I just thought about it.