Hello,

According to macrobiotics, Solanaceae vegetables - bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes - should not be consumed. What is your opinion on this perspective? They also claim that tomatoes are often the cause of joint pain and that the pain disappears once they are removed from the diet.

Thank you.

These statements are problematic due to the not entirely accurate interpretation of scientific findings. The fact is that these types of vegetables contain certain substances (most commonly solanine) which, in LARGER concentrations, have a toxic effect. It is noted that solanine poisoning symptoms in humans appear after consuming a dose of 2 to 5 mg/kg of body weight. If you look at the situation through numbers, for example, one unripe tomato contains approximately 25 mg of this alkaloid. If we were to consume unripe tomatoes, it would logically lead to health discomforts (in addition to the risk of poisoning, there are also reported joint pains because solanine increases the permeability of calcium cations through cell membranes, which can result in the accumulation of this element in tissues with all its consequences).

On the other hand, it remains a fact that an individual with basic nutritional literacy should avoid consuming green unripe tomatoes (or potato fruits), as the proportion of solanine decreases with the ripening of the plant. This also influences the way these pieces of information are disseminated and shared, including practical applications, where it is very unfortunate to claim that these types of vegetables are unsuitable due to certain health risks. This radical approach in practice leads to the completely unnecessary restriction of the diversity and nutritional quality of the diet.

The situation is, of course, different when you want/need to address a specific health issue that is (by coincidence) influenced by a particular food or entire category.

Themes:  Weight loss   Macrobiotics   Tomatoes