Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘peppers’

My List Of Foods Containing Quercetin

Posted by terrepruitt on August 30, 2014

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesI was looking in a catalog of supplements . . . one of my Nia students gave it to me after class.  We didn’t even have a chance to discuss it because she handed it to me as she was leaving, so I didn’t even realize it was a catalog of supplements until I flipped through it and saw every other page was an advertisement for a supplement.  Anyway . . . it had an article in it about the flavonoid, quercetin.  It reminded me of the information stating that it has been proven to be an anti-inflammatory and an antihistamine.  Since I primarily mention eating onions, apples, and citrus fruit in my two posts, An Apple a Day and Allergy Relief, I thought I would look up some information regarding what other foods contain this interesting plant component.  I found two sites with the same list.  I went through the list and found the things that I eat or would eat.  Some of the foods listed I didn’t even know what they were, such as Bog wortleberries, dock leaves, and lovage leaves.  Some I wouldn’t eat because they are peppers, such as ancho peppers and hot green chili peppers.  But I would eat some of the items listed.  I DO eat some of the items listed.  I could increase my consumption of some of them.

Here is my list.

Food Chart

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesThis is a food chart showing fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains rich in quercetin.
mg/100 g.
Apple, raw with skin        4.42
Apricot, raw                    2.55
Blueberries, raw             3.11
Broccoli, cooked            1.06
Broccoli, raw                  3.21
Butterhead lettuce         1.19
Cherries, raw                 1.25
Cherry tomatoes, raw     2.77
Green beans, raw           2.73
Kale, raw                        7.71
Plums, raw                     1.20
Red grapes                    3.54
Red onion, raw             19.93
Spinach, raw                  4.86
Tea, black brewed          2.07
Tea, decaf brewed         2.84
Tea, decaf green brewed    2.77
Tea, green brewed         2.69
White sweet onion, raw      5.19

I love apples.  I could easily eat more of those.  I don’t experience apricots that much, but I like them ok.  I think you know how I feel about blueberries, but I did discover I like them in a green smoothie.  I LOVE cherries!  Not so sure about eating green beans raw, but I just had kale in a green smoothie this past week.  I have received plums and grapes in my produce box.  But I don’t eat them often.  I eat onions pretty much every day in a green salad.  It is good to know that quercetin is in tea.

So what about you?  Do you know what a Bog wortleberry is?  It has a lot of quercetin in it but not as much as canned capers or dock leaves.  Since I don’t know what dock leaves are I don’t know if you would eat a 100 grams of them, but I can’t imagine someone eating 100 grams of capers.  So, I guess it is good that they have so much quercetin in them.  You can still get some from a smaller amount.

I am sure there are a lot of people who eat a lot more than is on my list.  The peppers alone.  I know many people who love peppers.  Anything on my list that you eat?  Anything you might think of increasing consumption of?  What about the full list? 

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Nightshade Vegetables So Good, Yet May Be Bad

Posted by terrepruitt on November 3, 2011

When I first started looking into different types of diets (READ:  NUTRITION PLAN/WAY OF EATING), I was curious to always see Nightshade Vegetables mentioned.  One diet that I have talked about is the anti-inflammation diet, this diet does not contain nightshade vegetables. You might know what they are and what that means, but I have mentioned before that I am not a gardener.  I am not a gardener and even more so I have no idea about vegetable families and their classifications and stuff.    I keep having to look it up.  What is a nightshade vegetable?  Nia teacher, Nia classes, Nia dance, Nia cardio, Nia workout, Nia, Nia fitnessNightshade vegetables are from the Solanaceae Family.  Nightshade vegetables contain a group of chemicals found in plants called alkaloids.  There are different types of plant alkaloids, some being toxic.  Plants containing alkaloids have been used for medicinal purposes as well as stimulates and poisons.  Studies have proven that alkaloids can affect some of the functions in the body.  Some people are more susceptible than others.  These vegetables are thought to interfere with digestion, muscles, and joints.  Nightshade vegetables promote inflammation in the body.

If you are susceptible to them it might be beneficial to limit consumption of these types of veggies.  As I mentioned if you are on an anti-inflammation diet they might be forbidden all together.  Again this could only be if you are sensitive to them.  Or if you are interested in trying to reduce the amount of chronic inflammation in the body.  If you have arthritis or any other disease associated with chronic inflammation it might be something to try. Or if you experience pain caused by sensitive nerves.

Nightshade vegetables are very common.  They are so common it kind of makes sense that chronic inflammation is more prevalent and being study by the medical profession.  I think the most common nightshade veggies are potatoes, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  You know I LOVE bell peppers and I was just learning to like tomatoes.  And the issue with potatoes is they are yummy in so many forms; mashed, fried, baked, roasted.  In addition to my beloved bell pepper ALL peppers are lumped in this family.  So even the hot ones that might aid in digestion could be causing inflammation issues.

In addition to inflammation there is research has proved that the alkaloid in potatoes interrupt signals from nerves to muscles and might contribute to muscle twitches.  Next time you have a twitch try to remember if you had any potatoes.  In addition to signal interruption, the chemicals contained in some nightshade vegetables might even cause pain  Also some research has shown that the alkaloids leech calcium out of bones and deposit it into soft tissue.

Eggplant is also a nightshade vegetable.  I love roasted eggplant.  Eggplant along with tomatoes contain nicotine.  Yup, tobacco is a nightshade plant and nicotine is an alkaloid.  It is fortunate that both tomatoes and eggplant contain a lot less nicotine then tobacco, it is still interesting to know.

Cooking reduces the level of alkaloids in our veggies by about 40-50%.

Please note that I am not saying that any health issue or discomfort you are experiencing is caused by nightshade vegetables/food.  What I am saying is that some research has either proved or associated the alkaloids in nightshade vegetables/foods to be connected to certain things; inflammation, digestive issues, nervous system malfunctions, pain, muscle twitching, etc. and it is interesting to know.  And it might be beneficial to do some experimenting with your diet if you think you might be sensitive to the chemicals found in some of the vegetables and/or spices considered nightshade foods.

Did you know what veggies were considered nightshade?  I am glad that I now have this list.

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »