Captxray

I think you could start a multitude of thread lines with your post.

You are right in that "whatever turns your doorknob" to healthy food and eating is the way to go and it is fascinating and fun too to see how many different routes there are to success and a healthy life style.

You have stated the foods that you steer away from and it is the experience of what works that counts.

However If we were to go with every piece of evidence or suggested "harmfull" food, there would be very little left to eat, or conversely the majority of the world population would have died out by now.

For example, to say lectins are harmful is a sweeping statement as they are absolutely necessary for digestion. There has been some association with some lectins with some blood types but it would appear that what is "harmful" to one blood type could be beneficial to another. Even the harm is at the extremely mild level and hardly poisonous.

You are also correct that Tomatoes, Potatoes, together with Aubergines, Peppers and Chillies, are members of the Solanaceae family of plants, which numbers approximately 2800 species throughout the world.

The Solanaceae also includes the nightshades, from woody to deadly. The deadly nightshade (belladonna) berry does indeed look like a small, black tomato. We all know it is poisonous and contains hallucinogenic alkaloids, nicotine and atrophine.

Because of the solanaceae family relationship it is well known that some chinese medical and holistic practitioners recommend that potatoes and tomatoes should not be eaten. But again the Irish and the Italians still seem to be with us.

Tobacco is also in the family. Now that really is a killer.

I don't eat potatoes because of the carb level but if you were in Ireland at the turn of the century it was vital to live. 500grams of cooked new potatoes gave you your daily requirement of vitamin C and niacin, and boiling does not kill off the vitamins. The potatoe blight and subsequent famine was a natural disaster.

So it really is all about perspective, personal experience and taking things with a pinch of salt. OOPS sorry that is not allowed either