Thursday, 5 June 2025

Are Tomatoes Bad for Arthritis? The Truth About Nightshade Vegetables and Joint Pain

From womansworld.com

Plus see two key nutrients that help ease pain and stiffness naturally 

If you’re living with arthritis, you know that everyday choices—like how much you move or what you eat—can affect your pain levels. There’s also long been speculation around whether produce in the nightshade family like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes can worsen symptoms like arthritis pain. But are tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables actually bad for arthritis? We asked an expert to separate fact from fiction.

How food can affect arthritis symptoms

Arthritis involves swelling and tenderness in the joints. The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis (when cartilage breaks down, often due to age-related wear and tear) and rheumatoid arthritis (when your immune system attacks your joints).

Many foods can help fight inflammation and improve symptoms of arthritis like joint pain and stiffness, according to the Arthritis Foundation. (See the best diet for arthritis here.) Other foods have the opposite effect.

“Foods high in added sugar and saturated fats can ramp up inflammation over time, which may make arthritis symptoms worse,” says Mackenzie Burgess, RDN, a nutrition partner with Butcher’s Bone Broth. “The main culprits for exacerbating arthritis tend to be foods like ultra-processed baked goods, sugary sodas or a fatty fast food meal.”

Are tomatoes and other nightshade veggies bad for arthritis?

“Nightshades contain very small amounts of a compound called solanine, which some believe to irritate the gut or trigger inflammation,” says Burgess. “But there aren’t any large-scale human studies confirming this link.”

The current research is mixed and done on animals: One 2013 rodent study in the Arab Journal of Nuclear Sciences and Applications found that older, postmenopausal female rates seemed to have higher inflammation and arthritis markers if they ate diseased potatoes with more solanine. Most edible nightshade vegetables have low levels of solanine, making them safe for people to eat. But potatoes that turn green may signal unhealthy levels of solanine.

However, a 2024 rodent study in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine using an injected solanine solution found that solanine may help protect joints and lower inflammation in those with osteoarthritis. 

Of course, these results still need to be replicated in humans to truly understand the effects for people with arthritis. There is currently an ongoing small trial of 40 individuals with arthritis to determine the impact of eliminating nightshades from your diet overall. 

Human trials like this one are important because mouse studies rarely translate well to people—and doctors and dietitians often do not advise cutting nightshades from your diet for nutritional reasons. 

Should you avoid nightshade vegetables like tomatoes if you have arthritis?

“For most people, nightshade vegetables aren’t a problem and may actually offer anti-inflammatory benefits thanks to antioxidants like lycopene in tomatoes,” says Burgess. 

To make them even more joint-friendly, Burgess says to make sure your meals are colourful with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Put an emphasis on combining nightshades with anti-inflammatory foods like berries, dark leafy greens, turmeric, extra virgin olive oil or omega-3-rich foods.

Nutrients that may ease arthritis pain

When it comes to arthritis, having an overall healthy diet is more important than excluding any one food or ingredient like tomatoes. In particular, Burgess recommends looking for these two key nutrients to help manage symptoms:

  • Collagen: A specific type of protein, collagen may help maintain the structure of cartilage and support overall joint integrity, ultimately helping to reduce pain. You can get collagen (or support the production of it in your body) with foods like beef, chicken, fish, beans, bone broth, eggs and dairy products.  
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These are found in foods like fatty fish, flaxseeds and walnuts. Omega-3s help lower inflammation in the body, which may help ease arthritis symptoms, according to a 2024 study in Clinical Nutrition ESPEN.  

The bottom line on nightshade vegetables and arthritis

If you still think eating nightshade vegetables may be affecting you, don’t eat them for two weeks. Then, slowly introduce them back into your diet, allowing about three days between each one, the Arthritis Foundation recommends. 

If you feel worse after reintroducing them—everyone’s bodies can react differently—avoid them and look for other healthy food substitutes. But remember, it’s always a good idea to speak to your doctor before eliminating any food groups from your diet. 

https://www.womansworld.com/wellness/are-tomatoes-bad-for-arthritis-the-truth-about-nightshades

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