Giving up Nightshades - For Now
The hunt to find autoimmune triggers continues. But we found one major atomic bomb to my system – Nightshades!
As such, my alternative providers are encouraging, okay pushing me, to give up on all nightshades for now. It turns out that they can be a huge autoimmune trigger. Recently, I knew something was off because out of nowhere, the shooting pains in my body were horrible, crippling and I also had intense joint and bone deep pain all over my body. You see, I had had these pains under control after I moved and left some of the major toxins behind. In fact, I hadn’t had pains for nearly 8 weeks until that fateful day my when my book club served gazpacho soup; it turns out to have been a nightshade filled atomic bomb to my autoimmune responses.
Pause: What is a nightshade????
Think eggplant, peppers (yes, all of them including bell peppers, jalapenos AND one of my favorite seasonings – chili and cayenne pepper), white potatoes, and tomatoes.
Shane and I’s last date night before I gave up nightshades
Lucky for me, I already knew I was anaphylactic to eggplant, so I don’t need to cut that one out. But the rest, well, I have been making some changes. I am at the stage of my life where I am wildly resistant to food restrictions - of any kind. After journaling on this, I realized that this fear and resistance to this new change are tied to my conviction to not live a life filled with hypervigilance. I don’t want to be overly stressed and hypervigilant about what I put in my mouth! After all, I have been on almost every diet in order to identify my triggers, including the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet, Paleo, Keto, full elimination, FODMAP, and the anti-inflammatory diet (to name a few). Additionally, I am already gluten, nut (except almonds) and mostly dairy free, too. I also simply don’t want to feel hungry and afraid of food. So how do I accomplish this change an honor my convictions AND needs? In other words, how do I honor this new food boundary?
First of all, as I’m on this healing journey, what I have found is that I need to feel all the feels and also honor that some changes have to be made, some of those may be uncomfortable changes, but that they aren't all permanent. Secondly, I like to avoid absolutes (in general), and in the words of Oscar Wilde, I believe in “everything in moderation, including moderation.” Okay, so this means that my new boundary might be only temporary and that I can do it in a way that feels more like freedom than like restriction. I don’t want to step into this being surrounded with lack and restriction, so instead I am stepping towards abundance and creativity. I am choosing to adopt an abundance mindset vs. a lack mindset.
Steak with fresh (& delish) vegetables
My new favorite coconut milk yogurt
Gluten free toast with almond butter, strawberries, and cinnamon. AMAZING!
The choices are actually quite abundant and giving up nightshades means I have the opportunity to explore a lot of new recipes. New recipes are a life force of new energy and blood and my body, soul and mind crave them. The more I create, the more I want to create. I have such incredible privilege that I can afford food and that I have an abundance of ingredients to choose from at the store. This past weekend I created an incredible kiwi, cucumber salsa! I will make it again soon and jot down a recipe (I am a creator in the kitchen so don’t typically measure anything).
Nightshade Substitutes:
White Potatoes = choose sweet potatoes and butternut squash (luckily they are in season right now), turnips, or parsnips can be substituted in most dishes, including for mashed versions. Mashed cauliflower can also amazingly swap out potatoes in most dishes.
Salsa = Create a fruity salsa and add lime and red onion!
Tomato sauce = create homemade pesto
Bell Peppers – onions
Eggplant - Well this one is easy for me to avoid because I've been anaphylactic to them forever! But yellow squash and zucchini can work!
Curry #2:
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 Tablespoon granulated onion
1 Tablespoon turmeric
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon ground clove
Curry #1:
2 Tablespoons ground coriander
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
In order to accomplish this shift with ease though, this week’s goal is to schedule routine time each week to find and create new recipes and to meal prep for myself. And to make a plan for social situations and how I plan to deal with my limits, which are my boundaries and my needs. All I know is that I'm going to honor this deeply, feel it and keep stepping into this with an abundance mindset. I’d love to hear from you if you have any suggestions, recipes or similar experiences to share!
