Nightshade, Allergies, and Downs?

[elanorh]

Hi,

A friend asked me if I knew anything about prevalence of nightshade allergies or legume allergies (or both) for people with Down's Syndrome. Apparently she has a friend whose little one seems to have seizures when he is exposed to those plant groups -- she's figuring it out via elimination dieting. She said she'd read that Down's kiddos may have more tendency to allergies to nightshades and legumes?

I hadn't heard the connection, wonder if anyone else may know something that I can share or steer her towards (with the girls' allergies, I guess I am the resident "Go Ask Alice" of my friends? ).....

[lil_miss_understood]

I have a foster-niece with Down's syndrome who is allergic to nightshades as well. Beyond that, I'm clueless and useless.

[mamafish9]

Seizures can be caused by excess glutamates. Some foods are naturally high in the amino acid glutamine, which converts to glutamate in the body. Most legumes are high in glutamine, as are tomatoes (not sure of the other nightshades).

A good site to research glutamine (and aspartic acid, similar) in foods is this one http://top200foodsources.com/

The deal with glutamates is that if that is the seizures trigger, it is often a bucket reaction - so it's not a particular food, although a single food high enough in glutamates could cause the reaction. It's more often about how much glutamates in general are being consumed. Supplements can sometimes contain glutamates too. And many prepared foods have MSG or one of the many, many ingredients that contain high levels of free glutamates http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm

Oh, and sorry - the connection here is that some research suggests that like kids with autism, kids with Down's syndrome may have more glutamate receptors in the brain and/or overreactive receptors, so they are more susceptible to glutamate sensitivity - and one of the ways that plays out is seizures.

[tanyalynn]

Search this forum, someone with a child with Down Syndrome posted a while back, she was looking into a few things and seemed to have a lot of leads on health issues that were specific for Ds.

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

A good site to research glutamine (and aspartic acid, similar) in foods is this one http://top200foodsources.com/

That site is awesome!

[dannic]

I haven't specifically seen nightshades and Down Syndrome, but I've read that they tend to be prone to allergies.

[perstephone]

You might be talking about me- I'm the one with a little boy, salicylate sensitivity, also has Down syndrome. Here's a search of all my posts here on the subject (it's not a million, I promise!):
my posts

For what it's worth, we thought at first we were dealing with a tomato allergy. Never had a problem with legumes, though.
Hope that helps!
Stephanie

[greenchild]

I wonder if it's possible she's talking about me? I'm new here, didn't know about these forums (I've been on JM for years) but am trying to find out if others have made a connection between nightshade foods and seizures and Down Syndrome. My son had benign myoclonic seizures for 8 months and thru tons of research I finally figured out it was the nightshade foods doing it, feeding him solids as well as nightshades getting thru to him via my breastmilk. Eliminated that food group for both of us (yes I did a couple unofficial tests) and we're now seizure free, day 14 and counting! It's absolutely amazing the progress he's made in the last 14 days!! So much progress that I'm starting to wonder, as are others following our story, I am wondering if it's possible that nightshades could be partly responsible for some of the developmental delays in Down Syndrome?? Really the only way to tell is to watch him grow up . . . but I'd love it if someone else could try it out and see what happens. This means tomatoes, potatoes, all peppers - sweet and hot, paprika, eggplant, and more that I'm not really familiar with. The only hard part is that nightshades are in most processed foods . . . we do fresh whole natural raw foods so it's not so bad . . . except now we really can't go out to eat anywhere! oh well, saves us money!

because of Down Syndrome individuals' tendencies to have more food allergies, I decided to not even go there, why make it tougher for his little body . . . we are dairy free, legume free, grain free, and now nightshade free. There are tons of fruits & veggies we can eat, as well as meats so we're not lacking in diet. ;-) Basically the paleo diet or the really ancient Taoist diet (prior to the 5 sacred grains).

If anyone has any questions, PLEASE feel free to contact me!!! I am trying to reach out to everyone/anyone who will listen and give it a try - it certainly can't hurt!!

Anne, mom to Kaiden

[babycarrier]

Hi Ann! My son is nightshade free - always looking to make connections to support this as it is not one of the frequently mentioned allergies on food charts and books. We found dramatic behavioral and rash elimination through eliminating night shades. Cherries are one I didn't see on your list.....also, was told to me by our ND that grapes can be a sensitive food when dealing with nightshades. Elimination of grape juice and raisins over here have shown decreased behavior/not feeling good issues.

[greenchild]

ground cherries (not tree cherries) are nightshades, yes. Blueberries are not nightshade, but also contain solanine. They don't seem to cause any issues with my son though, nor do grapes. I haven't been able to find any info yet about grapes in relation to nightshades. It's funny how we are all so different in what we are sensitive to!!

I did find yesterday, though, a connection between nightshade foods and some of the delays in Down Syndrome - although it's not a specific link, more like 2 unrelated studies that SHOULD be put together. I was reading about nightshades and how it affects leaky gut syndrome (which we don't have, but I suspect a friend does) and found that solanine and chaconine (glycoalkaloids in nightshade foods) inhibit acetylcholinesterase which is essential for the systhesis of acetylcholne, the neurotransmitter required for nerve impulse conduction. In individuals with Down Syndrome, there is an insufficient supply of acetylcholine. Acetycholine is responsible for activating muscle fiber, release of hormones, and learning/memory. Now add nightshade foods onto that, which inhibits acetylcholine further . . .

Choline is commonly given to those with Down Syndrome . . . now imagine the possibilities if you were to then take away what inhibits acetylcholine . . . and you have my son, Kaiden Little guy is absolutely amazing!!!

Pass it on, please, pass it on . . . word of mouth is the way to go since the western medical community can't seem to figure this out . . .

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by greenchild

Choline is commonly given to those with Down Syndrome . . . now imagine the possibilities if you were to then take away what inhibits acetylcholine . . . and you have my son, Kaiden Little guy is absolutely amazing!!!

Pass it on, please, pass it on . . . word of mouth is the way to go since the western medical community can't seem to figure this out . . .

No freaking kidding. I'm finding that with most chronic diseases! Way to go mama.

Pastured egg yolks are awesome sources of choline, eating 2 per day increased choline in brain something like 90% in adults in a short time.