Tomatoes and joint inflammation.

[Vinylhanger]

I have been having some pain in my hands lately. Part of it is just being in the trades and normal wear and tear.

However, my wife suggested it may be the fact I eat a ton of tomatoes. I add them at fast food places, have them with a lot of dinners, so pretty much each day I have 4 or 5 slices.

Any thoughts on if they cause inflammation? Anybody else had this problem?

 

[WhateverYouWant]

https://www.dignityhealth.org/artic...ith arthritis swear,raise levels of uric acid.

 

[taxlady]

A friend told me that she has far less arthritis pain, when she avoids nightshades. They contain solanine, which seems to be the culprit. Since I have arthritis in my hip, I gave it a shot. After a month of completely eliminating all nightshades from diet, the arthritis pain was gone. I gradually tried one nightshade at a time. Tomatoes, especially cooked ones were a problem, as were potatoes. I haven't really bothered trying some that I don't particularly like in any case, like eggplant.

I found that hot peppers don't bother me. I thought about the solanine and I know that most of the solanine in potatoes is in the skin, as well as any green bits. I quit eating any potato skins and found that moderate amounts of potato don't bother me anymore. I thought about the tomatoes. I had noticed that sun dried tomatoes didn't bother me and they didn't have any seeds. I wondered if maybe the seeds had the most solanine, since the solanine is in the plants to prevent being eaten by insects and the seeds are the most important part, to the tomato. I have been eating some raw tomato, with all the seeds taken out, and that doesn't bother me. Next experiment is to see if cooked tomato with no seeds are okay.

 

[Deb555]

I am going to say "Yes, those tomatoes probably are causing all your pain, along with other food items".

I met a woman at a Chinese buffet a few years ago who said "Don't eat the eggplant". I was using a cane at the time, I had so much pain in my knee and hip. We talked, and that's how I found out about the nightshades.

I cut out potatoes immediately, and I never really ate eggplant much anyway, but completely stopped. I found that cutting out all of this, including peppers such as bell pepper, helped, but not totally. When I saw one list, months later, it listed tomatoes on top. That was the first and only time that it wasn't potatoes on top, and I had missed it entirely. I didn't think tomatoes are part of the nightshade family, and wow, they sure are.

Well, I can eat some raw tomato, but not any kind of sauce except ketchup, of which we eat a reduced-sugar type. Another woman I know eats all the sauces, but cannot eat them raw. We are all different! I really miss spaghetti sauce

I kept looking things up to see if they might be causing me pain. Sugar seems to be the number one culprit. Processed sugar, not "carbs convert to sugar" sugars. I could go on and on with examples, LOL, from me to my boss to other people. And I have found that other things - soy, for instance - causes me a lot of pain, and I did find that on lists of no-no's when I searched. I've had to cut out so much from my diet. I do take lots of ibuprofen (yes, the doctors know and keep track of me) and without it, I can't walk or stand. So I am very invested in trying to find safe solutions.

I would like to point out that one thing that is very good for getting rid of arthritis inflammation is cherry juice. I cannot use it, being diabetic, but I know many who do, and they say it's like a miracle. They buy tart cherry juice. I cannot help with how much to take, or anything, but I imagine it's easy enough to figure it out. My mom would eat cherries for the arthritis in her hands and it completely stopped the pain.

I was looking for a thread on arthritis to see if anyone has experienced something I just went through. I had to fast for a day with only clear liquids, and noticed that after that, my hip pain went completely away. It had been very severe, and had been keeping me from sleeping over the past few weeks. I still have knee pain, but no worse or better than before.

This is evidence to me that the pain is diet-related. No matter what I stopped eating, I always had pain, sometimes more, sometimes less. I told my husband that maybe I just never cleared it all out of my system enough, and the fasting day did that. I hoped for information on fasting, but didn't find anything here I could use. But, I thought I'd mention it. And now I am going to search for an arthritis elimination diet plan to help me with it all. Good luck!

EDIT: I just realized I am saying I can eat the raw tomato, but maybe I can't, it simply seemed that way because sauces caused so much more pain. Yep, food for thought.

 

[taxlady]

Deb555, try removing the seeds from the raw tomatoes and see if that is better. I remove seeds and gel, but I don't know if the gel matters. While raw tomato with no seeds or gel is much better for me than with seeds and gel, I still can't have too much or too many tiny amounts of nightshades. Those tiny amounts seem to add up, if I'm not careful.

 

[pepperhead212]

I feel for those of you who get increased pain from nightshades! Fortunately, I don't get increased pain in the summer when I am eating those in mass quantities. In the off-season one time, out of curiosity, I reduced the amount of these ingredients greatly in my foods for a couple of months, but there was no reduction in my joint pain. And no increase when I went back to my usual cooking. So I'm lucky those aren't things my body is allergic to.

 

[Deb555]

Taxlady, I will try that. And I suspect that it's true that the small amounts add up. For a while, I thought "OK, I can have a few potato chips, it's just a little bit", but it wasn't unless I really went 100% without that it helped.

Pepperhead212, it's very possible that the nightshades are not what get you - but it's something. I found that sugar was the very worst. My boss, who has arthritis pain, was suffering so badly in Nov. of 2019 that he couldn't work. We talked about it and it turned out he'd been eating all the leftover Halloween candy. He stopped, and the pain went back to normal levels. I also found that many thing have a small amount of processed sugar, even when the carb levels are minimal. It seems to only take a small amount, now.

I think my idea is that after the fasting, when the pain in my hip went away 100%, simply reducing certain foods is not enough. Flushing the system and drinking lots of water made a huge difference, and then staying away (no "a little won't hurt") from what I know affects me has kept it away, almost completely. The level of pain you have may be caused by a small amount, and just stabilizes at a certain level and doesn't get worse. I am coming to this realization after a couple of years of experimentation.

However, a couple of things about arthritis: 1. This kind of pain always escalates with time. As the joints deteriorate and you age, it becomes harder and harder to reduce the pain. I didn't start out taking 4 ibuprofen 4 times a day, nor did I stop eating these foods for the first few years, and barely had any pain at all, but now they really are affecting me. 2. Every person is affected by something different. I can tell you what I know about my pain and the causes, but yours will be yours.

 

[taxlady]

If the medical marijuana law passes in North Carolina, you might want to check into using CBD oil as an anti-inflammatory instead of the ibuprofen. It doesn't have bad side effects and without THC, it won't get you high.

 

[blissful]

Deb555, look up the most inflammatory foods. Oils, sugars. I took out all processed oils, all refined sugar, all processed foods, now eat whole food plant based, all my aches and pains are gone, for 2 years now. Fats and oils are very inflammatory. I eat tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, all kinds of vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains. No place in my body hurts anymore, no more joint pain and I sleep like a baby, I'm 61. Same with my husband, all his pains are gone too and he's 70. What can it hurt, try it for 30 days and see how you feel.

 

[dragnlaw]

blissful - what do you mean by processed oils? which oils are processed? which oils are not processed?

 

[blissful]

Dragnlaw, processed oils are any refined oils. I stopped using any oils or fats and any items high in oils or fat.

Unprocessed oils/fats are naturally (by nature) packaged in peanuts, seeds, nuts, grains, avocado, olives, flax, chia seeds.

 

[dragnlaw]

Sorry to be so obtuse but I'm still not sure then what is a processed oil?

If Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, Flaxsee Oil, etc are natural - what's left?

 

[blissful]

dragnlaw Sorry to be so obtuse but I'm still not sure then what is a processed oil?

If Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, Flaxsee Oil, etc are natural - what's left?

Processed IS refined, it is squeezed out, or it is pressed out, often chemically refined further, this is refined oil. Olive oil, peanut oil, flax seed oil are refined, are processed.


There's more than enough fat/oil in olives, flax seed meal, peanuts, any seeds, nuts, grains, for anyone.



Aside from putting an oil/lotion on your face or body, or greasing up some joints on machinery, why does it seem that people think they need refined oils/processed oils in their bodies, where it does so much harm?

 

[Deb555]

I'll keep it in mind about the pot going lawful, but I have friends in other states where it is, and they say it does nothing to help with their arthritis pain. It's probably one of the things that affects different people differently.

As for the oils and stuff - I have cut out all of that except for olive oil, the occasional use of which is necessary for cooking. I don't believe using whole olives will help me in sauteeing vegetables (said jokingly). And I do believe that using some olive oil is one of the reasons my cholesterol is so good. I used to use more, and my chol was actually better than it is now (102 vs. 132). But I don't use other types of oil at all, nor do I eat fried foods anymore. I used to tell people, when asked for my favorite food list, that at the top is "fried". I miss fried chicken!

As I had posted, I have looked it up and seen list after list of inflammatory foods, most of which sugar rates the worst. And, again, foods affect people differently. I was looking for information on an elimination diet, so I can find what specifically affects me, and to verify what I think I already know. And I do know that nightshade vegetables do bother me, a lot. I don't think cutting out the occasional use of olive oil is going to reverse that. Occasional being once or twice a month, at most.

And, what I find strange is that after the fasting, my hip pain went away, but not the knee pain. Both are caused by arthritis, and the hip is actually in much worse shape than the knee. Go figure.

 

[dragnlaw]

So you are saying that you absolutely do not FRY anything? Do you even have frying pans anymore? if so, what do you use them for. Do you bake?

I am not being facetious, I'm truly trying to understand.

I'm also not able to eat peanuts (or very very few), flax seed is a no, no. There are many oils from nuts that I just cannot process. Olives are definitely processed, you cannot eat them raw. And yes, I eat peanut butter, again, controlled amounts.

Other than most fruits and some vegetables, I honestly can't think of a food that we eat that is not processed in some way.

All grains are processed some way or another. Rice, barley, wheat, rye, oats.

I think, somehow or another, someone needs to use a word other than 'processed'. It is way over used and leads to complete mis-understandings for many people, ME for example.

 

[blissful]

Dragnlaw, try 'whole food plant based'.....as unprocessed as possible. While it's nice to eat unprocessed grains, the husks are sometimes too much, like in oatmeal, so it gets dehusked leaving the grain parts intact for human consumption.


No I don't fry anything. I make a no-fry stir-fry, sautéing it in broth or water. I don't brown food in oil, no oil, no frying, at all. No pancakes, no french toast, unless they are baked on parchment.


I bake bread every week, cookies every week, on parchment. If I must brown things (and really there are good reasons not to, for your health), then I brown it in the oven or under the broiler. Yesterday I made potato wedges that browned in the oven, from baked potatoes, cut in wedges, seasoned with dilute soy sauce, sprinkled with seasoning, then cooked at 350 deg F, on parchment.

 

[Deb555]

So you are saying that you absolutely do not FRY anything? Do you even have frying pans anymore? if so, what do you use them for. Do you bake?

You are assuming a "frying pan" means "frying", LOL. I use non-stick pans, and almost never add a tiny bit of olive oil, as I previously said.

And as I also said, a few times, I am trying to figure out what might bother me besides the things I already know about. I eat peanuts, have never noticed an increase in pain, but that doesn't mean it doesn't contribute. It's a process.

I can say without doubt that processed white flour is not an option, it causes pain, so I never eat things made with it. Biscuits, breads, etc. Whole grains do not bother me at all. But I do avoid those types made with "some" white flour, even if then also containing whole wheat and whole grains.

 

[blissful]

Deb555, fasting helps because the offending 'foods' are not going into your system and your system goes through some changes to deal with the fasting. There is a very successful clinic in California that specializes in helping people identify the problems and solve or improve medical conditions. Here's a link. If I could afford it, if I had pain, I would go. https://www.healthpromoting.com/

 

[dragnlaw]

OK, thanks guys. I'm beginning to see some light down that tunnel.

You know of course, with my short term memory, I might end up asking all these questions again!

 

[Deb555]

Thanks for that link. I will check it out, but if you can't afford it, I doubt I can, either. Yes, I recognized that the fasting kept foods from affecting me, hence the idea of trying an elimination diet.

I have found a few things in arthritis sites, this is from arthritis-health.com, and is mostly what the various sites all say:

"An Elimination Diet Can Identify Triggers of Arthritis Pain
The best way to identify foods that trigger inflammation is to do an elimination diet. An elimination diet begins by eating only foods that rarely cause inflammation in anyone, such as leafy greens, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and chicken. These foods are called baseline foods.

After a few weeks of eating only baseline foods, other foods are added back into the diet one by one. For example, a person might add eggs back into his or her diet, eating them two times a day for 3 or 4 days. The patient monitors his or her symptoms during these days. If there is no reaction, eggs can continue to be eaten.

This methodical way of adding new foods back in makes it easy to identify what foods cause inflammation and arthritis pain."

And arthritis.org recommends (it seems, I haven't looked in-depth) the Mediterranean diet. Which contains things I know I can't eat.