Goji berries are just one of a long succession of highly touted ‘superfoods’ marketed by MLMs and health food companies alike. For years now they have been trotted across the stage of “the next best and greatest health food you can eat today and every day of your life”. Also known as wolfberries, boxthorn, lycium fruit, and matrimony vine fruit, these small dried berries belong to the Nightshade Family of plants, which can make them particularly dangerous to those who have exceeded their capacity to properly digest them.
Wherever it concerns the regular ingestion of Nightshades, we highly recommend deliberate moderation. Surely you remember when momma used to warn you about eating the little red poisonous berries out in the wild. That’s because a good number of those red berry bearing plants belong to the Nightshade family.
Goji berries on the bush
Nightshades belong to the family known as Solonacea which indicates they possess powerful and harmful glycoalkaloids known as solanine. Solanine, and other poisonous constituents found within the plants of this family, function as a natural insecticide to ward off insects which feast on the fruits of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and other nightshades.
Americans already eat too many nightshades … for their own good
Now, here’s the real problem with an extremely expensive snack food like Goji berries. When your diet is already full of nightshades, you can easily set yourself up for exceeding your own unique tolerance of the various harmful insecticide-like constituents you’re also taking in from eating tomatoes, potatoes, etc. When this occurs, you will begin to experience a number of telltale symptoms which make you feel miserable.
Think about it. What happens to an insect when it is exposed to insecticides? Before being killed by the deadly chemical agents, you can be assured that it will feel lousy as it is slowly paralyzed by nerve agents and other poisonous compounds. In fact, nightshades are known to attack nerve, connective and muscle tissues more than any other tissues. Doesn’t sound like a very good combination for the human heart, does it?!
The Health Coach has routinely recommended that clients avoid nightshades when they’re dealing with any type of chronic disease or longstanding ailment. Almost always, people begin to feel better by just avoiding this single family of foods. Especially when some researchers have suggested that nightshade toxicity is the number one co-factor for arthritis in the USA, this advice seems to make a lot of sense.
If you experience the following symptoms, you just may want to try the STRICT avoidance of all nightshades for the next 30 or 60 or 90 days. The longer, the better. Regardless of where you are with your health and general well-being, you will be amazed by trying this single dietary restriction.
Be aware of the many ‘Superdrinks’ that contain goji berries, if you’re nightshade sensitive.
There are many different symptoms associated with nightshade toxicity and solanine poisoning. Each person manifests them differently depending on their own unique biochemistry, target organs and tissues, lifelong eating habits, ancestry, genetic predispositions, among many other determining factors. The following symptoms are those reported most frequently by many who have watched these correlations closely.
• arthritic aches and pains
• fatigue and tiredness
• low energy and lack of endurance
• muscles aches and weakness
• allergy symptoms
• hypersensitivity to other foods
• tenderness and sensitivity in the joints and connective tissue
• heart irregularities – murmur, racing, pounding
• lightheadedness or feeling faint in the hot weather or under the sun
• skin rashes, redness, hives
• general feeling of malaise
• brain fog and inability to concentrate
• prone to depression
• easily angered and very impatient
• tending toward argumentation in close relationships
This is by no means an exhaustive list; rather, one that The Health Coach has catalogued over many years of tracking clients who have reported the nightshade sensitivity problem. This being the case, why would anyone want to throw fuel on this fire. When you go out and buy a large bulk supply of goji berries, chances are you are pushing yourself beyond your threshold of nightshade tolerance. You’re also probably pushing your relationships beyond their limits, since the regular intake of this food has proven to have HUGE effects on interpersonal dynamics.
Who has not heard of the Irish temper? Too many potatoes?
Or the tempestuous Italians? Too much tomato sauce, peppers, eggplant and paprika?
And how about the Mexicans and their world famous siestas? Too much salsa, jalapenos, habaneros, chilies, tomatoes, guacamole, etc.? Everything they eat seems to have either peppers or tomatoes in it.
Nightshades … can produce your worst Nightmare!
What we aren’t saying is that you shouldn’t eat nightshades for the rest of your life. After being away from them for a good long while, having a pizza or pasta with tomato sauce, or favorite Mexican food with chili peppers is perfectly fine. However, watch yourself closely after eating them. And see if you have any of the aforementioned symptoms. If not, you haven’t hit your threshold.
Dried goji berries
In closing:
If you suffer form any of the alphabet soup diseases of the 21st century or New Age Multi-Infection Syndromes, we strongly recommend that you consider this dietary prohibition. So many have been relieved of much pain and suffering. So many have seen their arthritis leave them forever by this simple change in diet.
Dr. Norman Childers is one of those unsung heroes of the health and wellness field, whose research and commitment to uncovering this major health problem has gone unrecognized. You may want to purchase one of his books to become more familiar with the Nightshade problem. Here’s the website:
The Arthritis Nightshades Research Foundation
http://NoArthritis.com/
May you enjoy great health,
The Health Coach
Required Reading
Nightshades … can produce your worst Nightmare!
Compelling personal testimony and very telling anecdote:
The Health Coach has performed due diligence on hundreds of health and wellness products over the years. Goji berries did not escape his attention, especially when they became all the rage. Well, he bought them in large quantity and ate them. Then he started to feel really awful — a feeling reminiscent of his nightshade-eating days. Still, he did not make the connection. Then, one day while researching MonAvie acai berry juice, he saw that goji berries were in the ingredient list. He then went to Wikipedia to read that goji berries are in fact a nightshade. That was the end of goji berries. And he began to feel better and better every day, the more distant from ingesting them.
Now, the owner of the company that sold the goji berries was always very cranky, very contrary and depressed. So much so that The Health Coach was often moved to help him. When the nightshade connection was made, he tried to do just that, but his health food business was too committed to the goji berry revenue steam. Kind of like medical doctors who become easily addicted to their too accessible pharmaceutical medications.
Health Disclaimer:
All content found at The Health Coach is for information purposes only. Therefore, the information on this website is not a substitute for professional medical care and should not be construed as either medical diagnosis or treatment. All information contained herein ought to be considered within the context of an individual’s overall health status and prescribed treatment plan.
Since The Health Coach does not diagnose, treat, mitigate, cure, or heal any type of disease or medical condition, the information contained at this website is not intended to provide specific physical, mental, emotional or psychological health advice.
It is entirely the reader’s decision to act or not act on any information at The Health Coach. Therefore, we fully invoke the HOLD HARMLESS clause for those who are responsible for putting any of this information into practical use and application.
© 2012 The Health Coach
Permission is granted to post this health blog as long as it is linked back to the following url: https://thehealthcoach1.com/?p=2368