Potatoes- Interesting Research Article

[RanchGal424]

I was digging through some searches on Pub Med (I look at a lot of scientific research for my job, and this site has links/abstracts to pretty much any scientific article and publication out there). I came across an interesting article on white potatoes:

Effects of saponins and glycoalkaloids on the permeability and viability of mammalian intestinal cells and on the integrity of tissue preparations in vitro.
Gee JM1, Wortley GM, Johnson IT, Price KR, Rutten AA, Houben GF, Penninks AH.
Author information


Abstract
The effects of potato and tomato glycoalkaloids and a saponin mixture from Gypsophila were investigated in cytotoxicity studies (neutral red uptake, mitochondrial MTT reduction and release of lactate dehydrogenase), using cultured cell lines of rat and human intestinal mucosal epithelium. Experiments to assess the effects of these compounds on the integrity of the intestinal epithelium were also carried out using preparations of isolated rat jejunum in vitro. By investigating the effect of these compounds on cultured cells and on intestinal tissue preparations, changes in membrane integrity, as evidenced by lactate dehydrogenase leakage in cell culture, could be confirmed in a system more relevant to the whole gut. Of the compounds tested, alpha-tomatine was consistently the most potent in all tests, and indications of a synergistic effect on membrane depolarization were observed between alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine at total glycoalkaloid concentrations of less than 1 mM (< 0.86 mg/ml), with an optimum when the former comprised 25% of the mixture. An increase in the apparent permeability of the brush border was observed at sublethal concentrations of the compounds, and this may have important implications with respect to enhanced uptake of macromolecules, such as allergens, whose passage through the epithelium is normally somewhat restricted.

In layman's terms, these researchers found that saponins and glycoalkaloids in white potatoes (and most nightshades), were seen to contribute to permeability in the intestinal wall (aka leaky gut). There are also other research studies out there with similar results (I won't post them all here- just go to Google or www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed and do a search).

My Enterolab tests showed I had no immunological reactivity to white potatoes. So, since I have a pretty limited diet since I am early in my healing, have been eating A LOT of potatoes as one of my safe veggies... Although I don't react, this may indicate that high consumption of potatoes may be preventing or slowing down healing of my intestinal wall. For this reason, I will not be eating white potatoes regularly any longer until I have healed my gut (maybe reintroduce them in Stage 2).

[Harmony33]

Sigh. This is discouraging, as potatoes are also one of my few safe foods, per my Enterolab results. I have to rotate so many of the proteins.

[RanchGal424]

Harmony, I too was disappointed- I cannot seem to get the ball rolling in healing, so I’m doing a deep dive on the stuff I am eating. I recently tried peeling and roasting parsnips and rutabaga in place of white potatoes and I felt really good. They were tasty too!! I roasted them in duck fat with a little sea salt. Yum!