Why No Tomatoes? And JA (Juvenile Arthritis)...

We have been a gluten free/dairy free/egg free family for a number of years when one of our children started complaining of aches/pains and had an inexplicable swollen knee. Our smart PA friend at the ortho doc's office was chatting with a specialist in Atlanta one day when the specialist mentioned a link between gluten enteropathy and things like JA (Juvenile Arthritis). Funny thing is that we had been researching ourselves (because at the time there was no definitive info out there being given to us regarding causes or links to inflammation of this nature) about arthritis and the possible links to food issues. The main information we ran across at first was old research in farm animals that showed links to inflammation when consuming nightshades.

This was huge to us considering the food limitations we were already dealing with-free and potatoes/tomatoes were something we could consume regularly . Add that in to the fact that part of nightshades that causes the inflammation (nitrates/nitrites) are major components in preservatives found in packaged foods and you can see our dilemma! Not only were we going to have to eliminate potatoes and tomatoes from our child's diet, but anything with preservatives. (Was there anything left to eat?!?)

It's been an interesting few years of tweaking diet and finding treatment that actually helped our kid and did not further "tear up" his stomach/digestive system. He is an awesome kid thathas dealt with so much in stride.
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So, small lesson on nightshades:


What veggies/fruits to avoid:

  • Tomatoes, tomatillo
  • Potatoes
  • Eggplants
  • Pepper (All varieties, except black pepper - including hot peppers, cayenne, paprika, Tabasco sauce, etc)
  • Goji berries
  • Ashwagandha (berry/herb)
  • Cape gooseberries (not the regular kind of gooseberries)
  • Ground cherries (nicknamed "Strawberry Tomato", not regular strawberries)
  • Garden huckleberries (not blueberries)
  • Tobacco

If you want to eliminate nitrates/nitrites in preservatives... well, homecookin' it is!  Also, avoiding prepared meats like ham and turkey that have preservatives and additives in "solution" about which you can't always be sure. Some places and now carry preservative free lunch meats, chicken, etc. Also, places like Trader Joes give you alternatives to prepared [boxed] foods with no preservatives/artificial additives.
 

This author has written a book about this subject here. There are many new websites now about anti-inflammatory diets. Here is one blog about a mother with 2 children with JRA and how diet affects their bodies.