Consumption of Nightshade Plants (Part 3) - by Loren Cordain, Ph.D., Professor
Editor's note: Dr. Cordain latest paper on paleo nutrition discusses the consumption of the nightshade family of plants (potatoes, tomatoes, and chili peppers). This is the final installment in the free weekly edition of The Paleo Diet Update. Parts 1 and 2 of this paper (as well as part 3 beginning June 21) are available for purchase in our web store until July 5, 2010. Afterwards, this paper will be available in its entirety from our web store. Note that the numbering of figures, tables and references in this week's installment reflect the paper in its entirety.
Consumption of Nightshade Plants, Human Health and Autoimmune Disease
Part 3: Chili Peppers
All chili peppers belong to the genus Capsicum (family Solanaceae) and are among the most heavily consumed spices throughout the world57. There are 22 wild species within the Capsicum genus, and five domesticated species58, of which more than 200 or more varieties have been produced depending upon various environmental factors to which the plants are exposed59. Table 6 shows the five domesticated species and lists a few of the more common varieties of chili peppers.
Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries. However, the peppers are considered vegetables (e.g. bell peppers) or spices (e.g. cayenne pepper) for culinary purposes, based on factors including fleshiness and intensity of flavor.
Table 6. Some common names for the five domesticated species of the Capsicum genus.
Common name or names Scientific name
Bell pepper, Cayenne pepper, Cherry pepper, Chili pepper, Paprika, Jalapeno pepper, pimento, Serrano pepper Capsicum annuum
Aji, Brown’s Pepper, Peruvian pepper Capsicum baccatum
Habanero chili, Bonnet pepper Capsicum chinense
Tabasco pepper Capsicum frutescens
Rocoto pepper Capsicum pubescens
The sensory "heat" from chili peppers comes from a group of compounds called capsaicinoids. More than 20 capsaicinoids are found in chili peppers, and their concentrations range from 0% by weight to more than 2% by weight60. Daily per capita consumption of capsaicinoids from chili peppers in the U.S. and Europe is ~1.5 mg, whereas in India, Mexico and Thailand it is ~25-200 mg60. Chili peppers are favorite spices throughout the world because of their pungent or "hot" taste and aroma. So, the greater the concentration of capsaicinoids in the chili pepper, the "hotter" it tastes. Table 7 shows the concentrations of total capsaicinoids in a variety of chili peppers and chili pepper containing foods.
Table 7. Concentrations of total capsaicinoids in a variety of chili peppers and chili pepper containing foods (adapted from reference 60).
Pepper/food product Total Capsaicinoid Content (microgram/g)
McCormick ground cayenne pepper 3,588
Habanero pepper, fresh 2,261
Thai pepper, fresh 1333
McCormick original chili seasonings 830
McIlhenny hot habanero sauce 547
Hungarian hot paprika 439
La Costena Chipotle, whole, canned 416
McCormick hot taco seasoning 394
Mezzetta hot chili, canned 306
La Costena jalapeno green whole pickled canned 210
Lawry Choula hot sauce 201
McIlhenny Tabasco original hot sauce 195
McCormick mild taco seasoning 186
Lawry Crystal hot sauce, extra hot 174
La Costena seranno, green whole pickled canned 164
Star Foods pepperoncini canned 82
Serrano, fresh 77
Green jalapeno, fresh 76
Red jalapeno, fresh 46
Safeway hot pepper sauce 45
Mezzetta sliced jalapeno, canned 19
Green, red and yellow bell peppers, fresh 0
Roasted red canned 0
Roasted green canned 0
Whole canned peppers 0
Capsaicinoids seem to have both beneficial and deleterious health effects60, 61. They have long been used in Mayan and Ayurvedic therapeutic remedies62 and more recently have found therapeutic application in pain relief63.
One of the potential shortcomings of chili peppers is their ability to increase intestinal permeability64-69 - and this may be their greatest threat to human health. As far back as 1998 it was suggested that chili peppers - because of their capsaicinoids - "may modulate the absorption of low molecular weight food constituents that are involved in the pathogenesis of food allergy and intolerance" 69. More recently, many scientists now believe that increased intestinal permeability, often times called "leaky gut" represents a universal environmental triggering event for autoimmune diseases14, 15, 44, 45. As stated earlier, when the gut becomes "leaky" it is not a good thing, as the intestinal contents may then have access to the immune system (which in turn becomes activated), thereby causing a chronic low level systemic inflammation known as endotoxemia16 – 18 that may promote cardiovascular disease16, 17 and diseases of insulin resistance18. To date, this chain of physiological events (e.g. consumption of chili peppers increases intestinal permeability which increases low level inflammation, which increases the risk for disease) has not yet been demonstrated in living (in vivo) humans. As always, I believe that anyone suffering from an autoimmune disease should remove suspect foods from the diet for an extended period and then monitor symptoms. If conditions get worse after you re-introduce the food, then this particular food may be problematic for you and should not be part of your lifelong diet.
Summary
In the U.S. we consume almost 230 pounds of nightshades per person on a yearly basis. These common foods (potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, and eggplants) have become such staples in our diets that few people rarely - if ever - consider that they are very recent additions to worldwide human nutrition. In fact, prior to 1492 and Columbus’ "discovery" of the new world, no Europeans, Middle Easterners, Africans or Asians ever had access to these foods, as they are all indigenous to Central and South America. Hence, humanity as a whole has had very little evolutionary experience with foods that contain multiple toxins (saponins and lectins primarily), which cause numerous adverse health effects in humans and animals. For Paleo Dieters my advice would to be to eliminate or drastically reduce potato consumption and for autoimmune and allergy patients to be cautious with the consumption of tomatoes, chili peppers and eggplants.
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