shedding light on NIGHTSHADES

What are nightshades?

hese colourful vegetables are all members of the Solanaceae family. Common nightshades include regular potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers and chillies. The list of edible nightshade plants also includes any spices made from peppers, such as paprika, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Black pepper is not in this category as it comes from a different plant. Apart from this shortlist of edible nightshades, most are toxic to humans. And for some of us, even the edible nightshades can cause health issues if we’re nightshade-sensitive or allergic to them. What causes nightshades