Lauri Light wrote:

>
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> 1. Do I really need to avoid nightshades? From a paleo perspective I know some nightshades are ok. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge to fill in about nightshades and arthritis? I can't tell in my own body, and I did NOT test allergic to any of them. Although, I think the reasons why you avoid them with arthritis is not b/c of an allergic response.
> 2. There are many non-paleo foods I did not test allergic to, such as  corn!!, rice, soy, peanuts, winter squash and sweet potatoes. If the Loren Cordain (& Ray Audette & others) theories are true about foreign proteins in grains causing auto-immune disease,then wouldn't the body show an allergy to whatever grains are causing this? Wouldn't antibodies show up? I show allergies to all gluten grains, so could I conclude that it's these grains which are a problem, and the above foods that don't show allergy response MAY be ok? I'm just looking to not make my diet be almost  nothing. (I like the paleo idea, and I already avoid grains for the most part, but if rice or soy or corn or squash or peanuts are not really a problem for me then I'd like to have the option to eat them occasionally)

I'm not really an expert, but the kind of allergies you are talking about are NOT
the same as gluten or lactose or casein sensitivity.   I have never had a histamine-type
allergy, but I'm celiac (gluten sensitive), and recently have discovered by experiment that dairy gives me a lot of problem with aching muscles and joints.
Corn also does this to me.  Autoimmune disease is also not the same as allergy,
though both can be regarded as a mistake by the body as to what its enemies are:
its own cells, or items that you eat, breathe, touch, etc.

If you are celiac, your small intestine is compromised, and the large molecules
that get through your gut can cause lots of "allergies", indigestion, and related
problems.  If you get strictly off all gluten-containing foods, you may regain the
ability to eat other things that cause problems to you now.

On nightshades, I recollect that a certain percentage of people (I distantly recall
about 25% of arthritis sufferers; sorry I don't have a reference) are reactors to
nightshades and getting off them remarkably improves RA or osteoarthritis.
Others have no such reaction.  The way to try this out is to do a strict elimination
of nightshades (including tobacco, by the way) for a few months, then reintroduce
the nightshade foods and see if you notice the difference.

My feeling would be that you should eliminate all gluten grains, try the nightshade
elimination test, and eliminate corn and all corn products.   Sweet potatoes and
winter squash are borderline paleo ( a subject of occasional discussion on this list).
If you have a lot of weight to lose, you may want to avoid them because of their
high carbs, but if weight is not a problem, they would be a reasonable addition to
your restrictive diet.  Peanuts can be a problem because of the herbicide/pesticide
load they carry, as well as contamination by molds, some toxic.  Lots of people
have problems digesting soy products; you might want to check out this web
site first:

    http://www.rheumatic.org/soy.htm

Good luck
Lynnet