chili, paprika, cayenne, hot, sweet, and so on, except for black and white pepper). Potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers were used as food by the Incas; at that time, potatoes were apparently much smaller than they are today, ranging in size from that of peanuts to that of prunes. Unknown in Europe before the Spaniards brought them over in the sixteenth century, tomatoes were first used as ornamental plants; the leaves and shoots had been found to be poisonous, and the fruit was thought to be equally unwholesome. Eventually, due to the ease of its cultivation, the potato became a major starch food, especially in northern Europe, replacing the more traditional barley and oats; in southern Europe tomatoes began to be used in soups and sauces. The eggplant may have been cultivated in the Old World as long as five thousand years ago; it has been a staple of Greek and Middle Eastern meals for centuries. Nightshades are high in alkaloids, chemical substances that are products of plant metabolism and have a strong physiological effect. Alkaloids share with protein a high nitrogen content, but are in fact“ denatured proteins,” the other side of the coin; that is, rather than being tissue builders, they are stimulants, hallucinogens, medicines, and poisons. The presence of nitrogen also makes them alkaline; therefore, they neutralize acidity. Among the better known alkaloids are caffeine( in coffee), theobromine( in chocolate), opium, morphine, heroin, strychnine, quinine, and in the nightshades, nicotine, atropine, belladonna, and scopolamine. Alkaloids are found in all parts of the food nightshades; some of the mature fruit, such as eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes, contain only faint traces. The potato contains the alkaloid solanine, which is found most abundantly in and under the skin. Storage conditions that include light and heat may, over time, increase the solanine content after harvest up to toxic levels. Improperly stored old potatoes have been known to cause gastrointestinal inflammation, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and other symptoms that can be severe enough to require hospitalization. 37 Cattle grazing on the nightshade Solanum malacoxylon grow sick and deformed from an excess of vitamin D, which causes an increase of calcium and phosphate in the blood, a condition that leads to calcification of the aorta, kidneys, lungs, and the back of the neck. 38 It may be relevant to note here that calcification of soft tissue— that is, the deposition of calcium( bone matter) in inappropriate places within the body— is possibly the most prevalent physical symptom in modern industrial cultures. Hans Selye has called it“ the calciphylactic syndrome,” and it is involved in arthritis, arteriosclerosis, coronary disease, cerebral sclerosis( senility), kidney stones, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic bronchitis, osteoporosis, lupus erythmatosis, hypertension, and even certain forms of cancer. 39 Nightshade foods may subtly remove calcium from the bones and deposit it in joints, kidneys, arteries, and other areas of the body where it does not belong. 40 We can make sense out of this through the balance-of-opposites theory, in this case of the acid and the alkaline. In a meat-and-dairy diet, the acid-forming meat protein must be alkalized with minerals; the alkaloids in such nightshades as potatoes and tomatoes may be instrumental in keeping the alkalizing calcium from dairy foods in solution, or pulling it out of blood or bones. If the process overshoots and too much calcium is liberated, the excess could indeed be redeposited in soft tissues as spurs, plaques, stones, or other calcifications. Vitamin D 3 in the Solanum nightshades has been found to be involved in promoting calcification of body tissues. Additional vitamin D in the diet, such as in fortified milk and other dairy products, breakfast cereals, and margarine, may then intensify this process. Arthritics have been advised by one researcher to follow a“ no-nightshades diet” and avoid not just the obvious foods but also processed ones that have even the slightest traces of potato flour, paprika, cayenne, tabasco, hot peppers, and any condiments containing these. The consumption of foods with vitamin D added is also discouraged, as we normally get enough of this vitamin from the sun. People who have followed these suggestions report good results, including remissions of arthritic pains, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, bursitis, tennis elbow, gout, lower-back pain, headaches, high blood pressure, and a host of related conditions. 41 I have personally encountered a number of cases where joint pains have disappeared entirely after several months on a strict no-nightshades diet and no smoking( tobacco is a nightshade also). In other cases, muscle pains and charley horse( which have been associated with lack of calcium) followed a meal high in sweet peppers or spiced with hot peppers. It’ s interesting to note that over thirty years ago, well before nightshades had fallen under any kind of suspicion, the macrobiotic regimen proposed by George Ohsawa recommended a total avoidance of these plant foods, deeming them too expansive: quick to grow, high in potassium and water, sharp of flavor in some cases. The stricture against nightshades in the macrobiotic regimen is coupled with the stricture against meat and milk products: Perhaps avoiding these foodstuffs, while increasing fresh vegetables, grains, and beans, might allow