If we experience joint pain, we may also want to consider removing foods from the nightshade family during a cleanse. The nightshade family foods contain alkaloids that can contribute to joint inflammation. Removing them during a cleanse provides an opportunity to gain an insight into whether the joint pain improves when they are removed from the diet. The major nightshades in our diet include tomatoes (of which we had a bumper crop this summer - see above picture for some of my garden harvest!), potatoes, peppers (including both bell and hot peppers), and eggplant. Paprika and cayenne are also nightshades. Most people don't have a problem removing eggplant from their diet (because they already don't eat it!), but removing the other nightshades can feel much more difficult. Both sweet potatoes and yams are not nightshades and do not tend to contribute to joint inflammation, so they can be a replacement for potatoes. Peppers and tomatoes are much harder to replace, but all other vegetables (squash, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, carrots, green beans etc) are still fine on a nightshade free cleanse. Even though the nightshades are hard to let go of during a cleanse, many people do find they feel less pain when they do not eat the nightshades, so it is an experiment worth considering.
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