Adieu, Solanum Lycopersicum

My beloved,
It is with a heavy heart and tears falling like jewels, that I bid you adieu. For over 35 years, I have loved you. You were my first thought each Spring and my most tender Summer love. My passion was to preserve your sunlight each Fall, and in return, you bestowed upon me the gift of memories of our love throughout the Winter. You had few demands of me while I had many of you, yet our love endured. Until last year, when you began to make me sicker than hell.

Well, you say tomatoes, I say, headaches. You say marinara, and say I acne. You say, pizza, and I say, pesto. Let's call the whole thing off! Tomato, cooked and raw: REACTION.  I consumed tomatoes 4 times in 2 days and I feel it. Within hours I develop a headache, 1 day later an acne like rash around my mouth and an increase in general body inflammation. Granted they don't burn my mouth or cause major digestive upset immediately like wheat does, but this is a reaction. While they were on my limit due to inflammation risk list, I thought I might be able to 'get away with' eating them now and then. I don't think that's the best idea. To be clear, I tested with the highest quality tomatoes available; local, organic heirloom and cherry tomatoes, organic Muir Glen Fire Roasted made into marinara, and biodynamic organic Bionature, Diced, which I blended into juice to with mixed fresh juiced veggies. Everything was of the quality expected, tasted lovely, and went through my body without any perceived issues except the first headache. I was hopeful it was due to dehydration or weather, or just me stuff. When I had tomato again, same pattern.

Tomatoes are members of the nightshade family. Species in this family (Solanaceae) include some of my favorite foods; tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, potatoes, and, this is hard to say, peppers. Previous attempts at eliminations diets never included all of the nightshades separately. I'm already aware I can't eat bell peppers, but I'm really hoping to not have a similar reaction to chilies (or potato or tomatillo). I think green chilies, serranos, Thai birds, and habeneros make me feel good, but I also thought I'd been growing and eating tomatoes, making my marinara, salsas, pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, and ketchup for the rest of my life. This is a good thing, right? To know your enemy? YES! Yes, it is. Now I know.

And a note. I just got a comment from a reader asking if I ate a whole 28 ounce can or a whole peck of tomatoes to bring on this reaction. Yuck, no. I had 1 heirloom tomato slice, 3 TBS of fire roasted organic marinara, 4 cherry tomatoes from my neighbor's garden, and 1/2 cup homemade tomato-veggies blend... over the course of two days. In retrospect, the juice was unnecessary but I had carrot-beet juice that needed to be used, and I was hoping the headaches were from something else.