So you’ve heard there’s a vegetable that destroys you from the inside. You feel betrayed. Good. You should. 

Many of your beloved vegetables aren’t so healthy after all. They’re betraying you. Like a doctor who steals from you when you while checking your temperature. 

The worst part is most people are never told this story and are only told to increase vegetable consumption when they feel sick. .

However the truth is that vegetables are not your friends (sorry to break it to you if but it’s time to find some new friends). 

Here are 9 vegetables that destroy you from the inside

8 Vegetables That Destroy You From the Inside

#1 Potatoes

Potatoes are nightshades. Nightshades are part of the Solanaceae family of vegetables….which is kind of like the Corleone family of vegetables. 

Why are nightshades bad for you? They contain two potent plant protective toxins: lectins and alkaloids. 

Alkaloids are built in bug repellents that nightshades produce.

The most common glycoalkaloid to be aware of is solanine. It is prevalent in high quantities in the skin of potatoes. And levels beyond this have been reported in the skins of many potatoes. The US has a maximum limit for the amount a potato can have, but even small amounts can be toxic.

Alkaloids damage fat and carbohydrate metabolism and DNA function They also can inhibit the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, increasing levels in the brain. This causes prolonged muscle contractions, making you stiffer than a bodybuilder. 

Nightshades are toxic to smaller animals, and potentially toxic to humans, especially if you’re already vulnerable (like many of you are — or you wouldn’t be here in the first place, am I right?). And if you are a smaller animal, like a mouse, first off please send a picture and 2nd you should definitely not eat them. 

In fact, my facebook group carnivore nation is littered with examples of people reversing these issues by cutting out plants and nightshades.

There have been documented cases of serious poisoning from the glycoalkaloid solanine in children. 

78 school children had diarrhea and vomiting, and 17 had to go to the hospital. This wasn’t because of anthrax poisoning — it was simply because of eating potatoes that had been in storage for too long . 

Additionally, a study on mice in 2002 showed that potatoes aggravated IBD symptoms. Given the importance of gut integrity to overall health, I steer clear of nightshades and potatoes. 

#2 Tomatoes

Tomatoes are another nightshade that can damage your health. It exerts its effect via a different mechanism: lectins. 

Lectins are designed (by evolution) to cause a severe immune response in the insects that eat them, which ultimately results in paralysis.

Lectins are in both plants and animals, however the most damaging ones are in plants. Seeds are precious to the plants as they are carriers of the genes. Plants devise powerful methods to protect them.  The outer coatings of seeds are armed with lectins. Plants that were best able to protect their offspring survived. So today, the plants we have are extremely specialized seed protectors. 

This is why italians peel and undress tomatoes (not because they are attracted to the tomatoes) — because plants concentrate the protective compounds there. 

Some issues that have been tied to lectin consumption include insulin resistance, leaky gut, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease and depression. 

Tomatoes don’t have the same clinical research backing their toxic side effects, but many people have reported benefits from removing them.

#3 Almonds

Almonds, one of the favorites of keto dieters are very high in both lectins and oxalates. Lectins, as discussed above, can be very damaging to your gut and mental health.

Oxalates also can be particularly problematic. Oxalates are salts — minerals bound to oxalic acid, that plants use as a defense mechanism. 

They’re used as protection from infection and being eaten.

Oxalates are very abrasive and damaging. Insoluble oxalates form crystals that can actually tear up the teeth of the bugs that are eating them.

Animals have shown a distinct preference for eating foods deprived of these oxalates. Larvae that eat food rich in oxalates show noticeable wear and tear.

Oxalates can cause many issues such as:

• Kidney Stones: 80% of kidney stones made of calcium oxalates
• Autism– oxalate blood levels are 3x higher in people with autism. 
• This study found that patients with Autism had 3x the levels of oxalates in their blood than normal individuals. [*]
• Reduced mineral absorption: oxlates bind to minerals like calcium and magnesium reducing how much you can absorb
• Joint pain
• Skin and eye issues
• Fatigue
• Reduced antioxidant .

Almonds are high in oxalates and this study showed renal failure from excessive oxalate consumption . Not something you often see advertised on all those keto snacks. 

#4 Spinach

Spinach is another high oxalate culprit. Green smoothies are loaded with these crystals and really should come with a warning label. In this study a green smoothie caused kidney damage in a 65 year old woman .

Just because it’s green doesn’t mean it’s your friend. In fact, it’s often the opposite. 

Many people think that spinach is a good source of calcium. But they’re almost as wrong as the people who think carbohydrates are good for you.

The calcium in spinach is completely useless. It’s all tied up in oxalate and you excrete it all. And this is true for all high-oxalate foods.

In this study, the highest spinach intake increased kidney stone risk by 20% .

#5 Grains / Wheat

Other than being high in carbohydrates, grains are damaging for another reason. They are lectin and phytic acid bombs. 

Gluten is the most renowned lectin and very damaging to health. A compound I think just about everybody should avoid. Some studies like the one pictured below show that even in non celiac individuals gluten can induce depression.

This may be through precipitating the release of zonulin, which pries open the junctions in your gut, causing leaky gut .

However, even if you eat gluten free foods, wheat has many backups that are just as damaging.

The other lectin that’s especially pernicious is Wheat Germ Agglutinin. In fact, crops today are modified to contain higher levels of agglutinin to make them even more resistant to insects. 

Wheat Germ Agglutinin is an especially small lectin. So even if the gut wall isn’t compromised, it can still pass through the walls of the intestine easier.

Some of the damaging effects of WGA include [*]:

• Disrupting endocrine dysfunction by binding to insulin receptors
• Blocking sugar from getting into muscle cells
• Interfering with protein digestion
• Increasing inflammation
• Crossing blood brain barrier
• Stimulating weight gain. 

One of the biggest reasons the damage from WGA is so insidious is because it is in the bran of wheat. For this reason, whole wheat actually has more and can actually be more obesogenic than white flour.  

Wheat also has phytic acid which impairs nutrient absorption. 

Phytic acid is another protective substance found in plant seeds. 

It’s predominant effect is as an antinutrient, blocking mineral absorption. Like oxalates, phytic acids steal nutrients from us — most commonly impairing iron, zinc and magnesium absorption .

This study pictured below shows that when 120g of oysters are eaten with tortillas, you absorb none of the zinc. Oysters are traditionally one of the foods highest in zinc.

Zinc is critical for immune system, thus depriving your body of it can have many insidious effects. 

#6 Cruciferous veggies (Like Broccoli) 

If you’re like most people, you think that vegetables like broccoli are the healthiest foods in the world. 

But cruciferous vegetables are loaded with another toxin: goitrogens. No, goitrogenic doesn’t mean overpriced and bland. 

It means they may be bad for your thyroid. 

And it means that they can cause

• Weight gain
• Dry skin
• Depression
• Cold sensitivity

For some muscularly inclined Neanderthals — i.e. bros — a swollen neck means CrossFit is working. However, for most of us, it’s not a good thing. 

Goitrogens do this by interfering with iodine absorption in the thyroid. Iodine is required for thyroid hormone production. Without it, the thyroid cannot produce the T4 and T3 hormones. 

In response to deficient T4 and T3 levels, your pituitary gland produces more TSH to signal to your thyroid to produce more T4. The excess TSH causes swelling. 

All goitrogens are derived from naturally occurring plant pesticides called glucosinolates. 

These goitrogenic chemicals are even too toxic for the plant to store. So they store them in an inactive glucosinolate form. But when the plant is cut, chewed or digested, BOOM, it combines with the myronase enzyme. A nuclear bomb of plant pesticides explodes, turning your gut into a wasteland. 

The chemical Broccoli produces, for instance, is called sulforaphane. 

How much is needed to be damaging? 

One study found that when a diet of 154 μmol of progroitrin per 100g was fed to rats, they developed hypothyroidism. They found that in pigs it took a higher concentration to induce liver damage — a diet of 383 umol / 100g .

Sulforaphane also has other side effects. It has been shown to kill insects. How? Does it smash them with a shoe? No. 

Sulforaphane : 

• Poisons mitochondria
• Generates free radicals
• Damages thyroid functions
• Depletes glutathione
• Damages epithelial layer

Doesn’t sound like something I want as a dietary staple. 

#7 Kale 

Kale is dangerous for another reason. It tends to be loaded with exogenous pesticides. 

Unfortunately Kale doesn’t have claws, so the only way for farmers to protect it from insect invasion is with substantial amounts of pesticides. 

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. In 2015 the WHO classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. However, glyphosate is still ubiquitous in foods. 

It’s almost impossible to avoid this poison today. According to a recent report, even after washing Kale, 92% of specimens had pesticide residue .

This study shows that exposure to glyphosate increases the risk of some cancers by 40%

“Superfoods” like kale are really “super”-full of pesticides.

Here is where ruminants shine – unlike something like kale, which has no choice but to drown in the pesticides it’s exposed to, the ruminant digestion system can expel glyphosate. According to this study, there is no evidence that the glyphosate cows consume bioaccumulates in the cow’s meat .

#8 Vegetable Oils

Not technically a vegetable, but made from plants, this one is the most pernicious on the list. In fact, if you have one takeaway from this article it is this: Carnivore Aurelius is never wrong. Haha, kidding. The real takeaway: throw away your damn vegetable oils. 

Vegetable oils are killing you and they’re hidden in almost everything. 

What are vegetable oils? First off, they’re not vegetables at all. A more fitting name would be industrial processed seed oil sludge.

Vegetable oils are actually made from seeds, not vegetables. Below are some common ones:

• Corn
• Soybean (the most common in diets)
• Sunflower
• Canola

They are directly linked to almost every chronic disease.

• Alzheimer’s
• Cancer
• Insulin resistance
• Acne
• Heart disease
• Autism
• Dementia
• Heart disease
• Autoimmune disorders
• Leaky gut

The craziest part — they’re still labeled as heart healthy by the AHA because they can help lower cholesterol. This is despite the numerous studies showing replacing saturated fat with seed oils increases death rate. 

One study for instance, showed that “there was a 22% higher risk of death for each 30 mg/dL reduction in serum cholesterol” when replacing saturated fats with these seed oils .

Today, they are ubiquitous. 

Vegetable oil consumption has increased over 1000x since the 1900s. And they are now hidden in almost everything.

It’s time to cut these toxins out of your diet.

Conclusion

Vegetables are not made to be eaten. This is one of the many reasons why the carnivore diet works so well.

It cuts out all of these vegetable toxins that have been poisoning you your whole life.

Source: https://carnivoreaurelius.com/vegetable-that-destroys-you-from-the-inside/