Potatoes and inflammation

[Calypso]

I have read that potatoes cause inflammation in the body. Do you find this to be the case?

[JeffN]

No.

http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/

In Health
Jeff

[Burgess]

Thanks, Jeff, for the referral.

Calypso, I am a layman, but I can say that for me personally and others I have known, potatoes do not generally cause inflammation problems. To get rid of my many inflammation (-itis) problems ...

http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2007/ ... ation.html

I eat about 25 pounds of potatoes per week:

http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2010/ ... i-eat.html

My inflammation problems are gone.

[Maer]

So there is no connection between nightshades and arthritis? or does that apply only to tomatoes? or is it not true at all?

where did this idea come from?

Interesting.

Maer

[JeffN]

Different question but similar answer

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewt ... 7&p=127715

viewtopic.php?t=7101

In Health
Jeff

[sweetfruitlover]

Potatoes do cause inflammation for me, as do tomatoes. It looks like I will probably have to avoid nightshades (or at least those two, and I never ate much of the others), which is such a bummer because I love them!

But I get these painful red patches of inflamed skin when I eat them. And I started having this grinding pain in my hip that my doctor said was likely to be bursitis. I stopped eating potatoes and tomatoes and both have cleared up totally. I experimented by adding them back in, and both conditions returned.

I would guess that some people are sensitive to them, and most aren't. You'll have to experiment and see how they affect you.

[pinkrose]

Potatoes do cause inflammation for me, as do tomatoes. It looks like I will probably have to avoid nightshades (or at least those two, and I never ate much of the others), which is such a bummer because I love them!

But I get these painful red patches of inflamed skin when I eat them. And I started having this grinding pain in my hip that my doctor said was likely to be bursitis. I stopped eating potatoes and tomatoes and both have cleared up totally. I experimented by adding them back in, and both conditions returned.

I would guess that some people are sensitive to them, and most aren't. You'll have to experiment and see how they affect you.

Sorry you cannot tolerate these two foods, Sweet. They are also two of my favorites. The good part of this is that you know you have many other excellent choices and that you are adaptable.

What works for one will not work for all but I think about 99% of the people who read this would fare quite well on a diet of low fat plants!

[Calypso]

Interesting--I, too, have a pain in my hip. I am going to test potatoes and then oats. Hopefully, it's not either of those. I had not eaten potatoes in a year, but I still had my symptoms except that pain. I started eating potatoes just a few weeks ago when I began the McDougall diet, and that funny pain reappeared--but I also added some other things, so I have to go through a process of elimination. Thanks for sharing.

[HealthyMe2010]

Potatoes do cause inflammation for me, as do tomatoes. It looks like I will probably have to avoid nightshades (or at least those two, and I never ate much of the others), which is such a bummer because I love them!

But I get these painful red patches of inflamed skin when I eat them. And I started having this grinding pain in my hip that my doctor said was likely to be bursitis. I stopped eating potatoes and tomatoes and both have cleared up totally. I experimented by adding them back in, and both conditions returned.

I would guess that some people are sensitive to them, and most aren't. You'll have to experiment and see how they affect you.

Out of curiosity, do you get those reactions with ORGANIC potatoes and tomatoes? I've experienced "reactions" to certain foods that have nothing to do with the food, but a certain preservative or perhaps chemical that was on it. Eating the organic version produces no such reactions.

[JeffN]

Potatoes do cause inflammation for me, as do tomatoes. It looks like I will probably have to avoid nightshades (or at least those two, and I never ate much of the others), which is such a bummer because I love them!

But I get these painful red patches of inflamed skin when I eat them. And I started having this grinding pain in my hip that my doctor said was likely to be bursitis. I stopped eating potatoes and tomatoes and both have cleared up totally. I experimented by adding them back in, and both conditions returned.

I would guess that some people are sensitive to them, and most aren't. You'll have to experiment and see how they affect you.

Out of curiosity, do you get those reactions with ORGANIC potatoes and tomatoes? I've experienced "reactions" to certain foods that have nothing to do with the food, but a certain preservative or perhaps chemical that was on it. Eating the organic version produces no such reactions.

Correct.

This is why the only way to know for sure is to do a strict elimination diet over time as Burgess has done and, might I add, is still doing and still learning.

This is a very complex situation and most likely not the nightshades, per see, as if it was the nightshades, then there are other nightshades that would have to cause the same reaction.

In Health
Jeff

[Calypso]

OK--that's an interesting. I will consider that. Thanks.

[sweetfruitlover]

I rarely eat anything that isn't organic with the exception of produce that I buy at the farmer's markets where the growers assure me they grow organically but are just not certified organic. I feel like I can trust them, but maybe not... Or when I'm traveling and have to compromise, though this is rare.

So the potatoes and tomatoes that I feel caused my problems were organic.

I haven't done a strict elimination diet, but because so many foods cause issues for me, I tend to eat very very simply and thus my whole diet resembles an elimination diet.

When I was eating mostly potatoes as my starch a few months ago, I experienced these inflammation issues. When I eliminated potatoes and ate brown rice and oats for my starch, the inflammation went away. When I added potatoes back, the inflammation came back. My other food choices did not change during this time. I keep a detailed journal with all my food consumption and my health issues, and I have looked over it very closely to see if it could be something else, and I don't think so. I had already eliminated tomatoes in a separate experiment earlier this year. I was eating more food variety then, but I stopped eating them, started again, and stopped several times and the inflammation symptoms were perfectly associated with tomato consumption.

I do feel that in my case potatoes and tomatoes are causing inflammation. I might be wrong, and maybe I'll get healthier and be able to handle them better in the future, but for now I'm enjoying my other starch options (gluten-free gains and beans).

[JeffN]

I am not doubting your personal experience, only trying to validate it as there must be an inflammatory agent to be causing inflammation and while it is possible it may be solanine, that is a separate issue than just being potatoes and tomatoes. And, as we have seen here, many have healed their inflammation on mostly potato based diets.

This is why "case studies" like yours need to be evaluated and will often lead to controlled studies so we can find out for sure what is going on.

While an elimination diet is not a controlled study, it is the closest thing someone could come to doing on their own.

In Health
Jeff

[Calypso]

Are there any restrictions on frozen potato products? I have tried the Alexia brand, and, now that I think about it, I haven't had any fresh, whole potatoes because I really don't have time to prepare them in the morning or in the afternoon after work.

[JeffN]

You can pre-cook them and then eat them cold or quickly reheat them.

Any frozen potato that is just potatoes or that meets the guidelines , would also be fine.

In Health
Jeff