Arthritis is Often Caused or Aggravated by Food Allergies

Do you have either rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis? It may be caused or aggravated by an allergic sensitivity to the nightshade (Solanaceae) group of foods. These foods include the tomato, potato, eggplant,tobacco, all types of sweet or strong peppers, excluding ground black pepper, Tabasco sauce, cayenne, paprika and petunias.

These foods contain some of the same alkaloids found in deadly nightshades such as Jimsonweed and deadly black nightshade. In their article "An Apparent Relation of Nightshades (Solanaceae) to Arthritis" in the Journal of Neurological and Orthopedic Medical Surgery, 1993, N.F. Childers, Ph.D. and M.S. Margolis, M.D. discuss the findings of a 20 year survey of over 1,400 volunteers showing the direct relationship with the consumption of the nightshade group of foods with arthritic patients with sensitivity to these substances.
Not all people are sensitive to the nightshade group but those that are find quick and profound relief for their arthritis when they strictly adhere to a nightshade free regimen.

I, myself am one of these people and have had almost total relief of hip and joint pain from staying on a nightshade free diet. Previous to that I had cortisone shots from my orthopedic surgeon with only partial and temporary relief of my arthritis problems. Physical therapy, prescribed by the same doctor didn't seem to help much either. My doctor went as far as to say if the problem got worse and the shots became ineffective, I might have to have to undergo hip replacement surgery with an associated 3 month or more of physical therapy. This thought was abhorrent to me.

Another, excellent doctor I saw was aware of the food allergy relationship with arthritis and put me on a nightshade free diet. In addition he included the elimination of caffeine from my diet as this can cause similar symptoms as well. The results were almost immediate in my case and in less than a week I felt almost totally pain free. This was not due to the elimination of arthritis in my body but rather the reduction of systemic inflammation cause by the sensitivity to this group of foods. Many people take longer to feel positive results, some up to six months.

N.F. Childers and Dr. Margolis report in their article that 94% of the people in the study who strictly adhered to this diet "had complete or substantial relief from symptoms". This is an amazing statistic when compared to the only "80% receiving some degree of temporary relief" from drugs.

Also of note is that uncooked nightshade group foods contain an even higher percentage of Solanaceae. Uncooked potatoes are very high in this substance. Many people eat raw tomatoes, tomato based juices, etc.
In addition, beware of foods that contain this group in their contents, even though they may not seem to be visible in the finished prepared food. It is important to check the ingredient listing to make sure you are not getting these foods without you being aware of it.

Another good source article is "What are Nightshades and in Which Foods are They Found?", from the George Mateljan Foundation and "Popular Foods Source of Arthritis Pain and Inflammation, by Deborah Cooper, August 8, 2000.