11. The Autoimmune Plot Thickens— Tobacco and Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Autoimmune diseases are poorly understood. The elevator pitch explanation is that your immune system gets confused and overactive, and then attacks your body—a very...
10. Counterpoint: The Mediterranean Diet
I suspect one reason that some medical professionals are reluctant to accept that nightshade vegetables might do harm is the star power of the...
9. The Lectin Hypothesis
Potatoes and other nightshade vegetables—and actually most vegetables—have yet another complicated class of molecular ingredient: lectins. These are proteins that bind to carbohydrates. Like...
8. The Potato Problem
Reports of potato poisoning are uncommon, yet persistent incidents—particularly of mass poisonings ((“Horrific Tales of Potatoes That Caused Mass Sickness and Even Death”))—are reported...
7. The Complex Cost/Benefit Chemistry of Tomatoes
James Roddick produced much of the nightshade focused research of the 70s and 80s. Over the last 20 years the undisputed leader of nightshade...
6. Norman Childers and the Anti-Arthritis Diet
During the peak of his professional life Norman Childers was an esteemed professor of horticulture, eighteen years the head of department at Rutgers University....
5. James Roddick Explores Glycoalkaloids
For three decades beginning in 1970 James Roddick of the University of Exeter explored the biochemistry of nightshade glycoalkaloids. Beginning with alpha-tomatine in 1974,...
4. Glycoalkaloids & Tropane Alkaloids
Early chemical discoveries
Unknown to the ancients, some interesting chemistry underlies the mystical properties of nightshades. Glycoalkaloids are complex organic molecules that tend towards high...
3. The History of Nightshades as Poisons
Only a few hundred years ago basic botanical knowledge was widespread. Before modern agriculture you had to know your plants if you were going...
2. Nightshades—Just Side Effects?
Medical science doesn't yet fully recognize or understand nightshade sensitivity. With a little logical thinking, we can skip over this gap and still grasp...