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Vegetables · Nightshades
Eggplant: Nutrition, Benefits, Nightshades & How to Cook It
What a cup of eggplant gives you, what the human studies on blood sugar and blood pressure found, what its purple skin carries, whether nightshades are a concern, and how to cook it so it doesn't soak up oil.
Evidence-based39 sources citedUpdated October 12, 2026
The Dr. Axe Score™
Scientific Evidence
5.8/10
A randomized meal trial on blood sugar, a 12-week placebo-controlled trial of eggplant powder for blood pressure, three cholesterol trials and three large U.S. cohorts that included it, plus lab studies of its skin compounds.
Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory
6.0/10
Its skin is rich in chlorogenic acid and purple anthocyanins, grilling and boiling raised its chlorogenic acid in a lab study, and the eggplant or summer squash item tracked with better inflammation markers.
Clinical Effectiveness
6.4/10
Our judgment: a 20-calorie-a-cup vegetable that steadied the blood-sugar rise of a rice meal and anchors Mediterranean dishes; it soaks up oil when fried.
Nutrient Density
4.0/10
Mostly water, with 2.46 grams of fiber and 8% of the daily value for manganese per cup; per calorie, its fiber, manganese and copper are high.
Why this score?
Why Eggplant scores 5.6 / 10
Weighting: Evidence 30% · Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory 25% · Clinical Effectiveness 25% · Nutrient Density 20% (5.8×0.30 + 6.0×0.25 + 6.4×0.25 + 4.0×0.20 = 5.64, shown as 5.6). How we score
A transparent, weighted index built for foods. See how it’s calculated →
Eggplant at a glance
Eggplant is a glossy, purple-skinned nightshade with a soft, meaty flesh, and a cup of raw cubes has about 20 calories, 2.5 grams of fiber and 2.4 grams of net carbs.1 Its skin carries chlorogenic acid and purple anthocyanins,23 and in a randomized meal trial of 16 healthy young women, a side of steamed eggplant lowered the glycemic index of a rice meal to 67.4
- Best uses: roasted, grilled, steamed or air-fried as a low-calorie base for Mediterranean dishes like baba ganoush and ratatouille
- Human research: a meal trial on blood sugar, a 12-week trial of eggplant powder for blood pressure, and three large U.S. cohorts that included it
- Cooking: brush on olive or avocado oil instead of frying; deep-fried eggplant came out 37.8% fat by weight in a lab test5
- Nightshades: most people do fine with them, and a 3-week trial without them shows whether they matter for you6
- Main cautions: an uncommon eggplant allergy, and its natural histamine, which matters if you have histamine intolerance
Eggplant is the glossy, deep purple fruit of a nightshade plant, with a spongy flesh that turns silky, almost creamy, once you cook it. It's a staple of the Mediterranean diet,7 and it's one of the vegetables on my food list, along with its nightshade cousins: tomatoes, peppers and white potatoes.8
Eggplant's protective chemistry is concentrated in that purple skin. It carries chlorogenic acid, the main antioxidant in the fruit,2 and anthocyanin pigments, including nasunin in Japanese eggplant.3 Raw eggplant is 92.3% water, with 3 grams of fiber in every 100 grams, so a cup of cubes comes to just 20.5 calories.1
That spongy flesh also soaks up oil, so how you cook it matters, and the cooking section below shows you how to roast, grill or air-fry it with just a brush of extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
What is eggplant?
Quick answer
Eggplant (Solanum melongena), also called aubergine or brinjal, is the fruit of a plant in the nightshade family, picked and cooked as a vegetable.9 The familiar kind is large, glossy and deep purple, but eggplants also come long and slender, small and round, and white, striped or nearly black, and the skin is edible on all of them.
Botanically, eggplant is a fruit, since it grows from the flower and carries the seeds. Its flesh is pale, spongy and mild, with small soft seeds, and it takes on the flavors of whatever it's cooked with.
Types of eggplant
| Type | What to look for | What the research found |
|---|---|---|
Globe (American) | Large, oval, glossy deep purple | Non-Japanese eggplants typically carry delphinidin-3-rutinoside as their main skin pigment3 |
Japanese | Long, slender, with thin, dark purple skin | Its main skin pigment is nasunin, an anthocyanin studied for its antioxidant activity310 |
Black | Very dark, almost black skin | The darkest skin measured the most phenolics in a lab comparison of black, purple and white eggplants11 |
White | Ivory skin and creamy flesh | Its skin still measured more phenolics than black eggplant's flesh11 |
Eggplant in traditional medicine
In Turkish, Chinese and Indian traditional medicine, eggplant has been used for rheumatism, bleeding, asthma, bronchitis, toothache, itching, neuralgia and hemorrhoids.12 A food that holds a place in several healing traditions is worth taking seriously.
Get the free Anti-Inflammatory Reset
This free 30-day protocol starts by cutting fried food and seed oils, the same swap that keeps eggplant a light, healthy dish. Inside:
- Four phases over 30 days, beginning with cutting sugar, fried food and seed oils
- At least five colors of plants a day, and the foods to eat freely in each phase
- A 3-week nightshade trial if joint pain persists, and how to add foods back one at a time
- A 7-day anti-inflammatory meal plan, plus an hs-CRP baseline and a retest at day 30
Free with your Dr. Axe account (email or Google). You'll also get the protocol's short email series and the Dr. Axe newsletter; unsubscribe anytime.
Open the free protocol →Eggplant nutrition facts
Quick answer
One cup of raw eggplant cubes (82 grams) has 20.5 calories, 4.82 grams of carbohydrate, 2.46 grams of fiber and 2.36 grams of net carbs, with 8% of the daily value for manganese and 7% for copper.113 It's 92.3% water, so it adds bulk to a meal for very few calories.
Eggplant, raw, per 1 cup of cubes (82 g) and per 100 g, from USDA FoodData Central; % Daily Value uses FDA reference values.113
| Nutrient | 1 cup cubes (82 g) | % Daily Value | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
Calories | 20.5 | n/a | 25 |
Water | 75.7 g | n/a | 92.3 g |
Carbohydrate | 4.82 g | 2% | 5.88 g |
Fiber | 2.46 g | 9% | 3.0 g |
Net carbs (carbohydrate minus fiber) | 2.36 g | n/a | 2.88 g |
Total sugars | 2.89 g | n/a | 3.53 g |
Protein | 0.80 g | 2% | 0.98 g |
Fat | 0.15 g | n/a | 0.18 g |
Manganese | 0.19 mg | 8% | 0.232 mg |
Copper | 0.066 mg | 7% | 0.081 mg |
Folate | 18 mcg DFE | 5% | 22 mcg DFE |
Pantothenic acid | 0.23 mg | 5% | 0.281 mg |
188 mg | 4% | 229 mg | |
Vitamin B6 | 0.069 mg | 4% | 0.084 mg |
Niacin | 0.53 mg | 3% | 0.649 mg |
Magnesium | 11.5 mg | 3% | 14 mg |
Vitamin K | 2.9 mcg | 2% | 3.5 mcg |
Vitamin C | 1.8 mg | 2% | 2.2 mg |
Eggplant's strength is what it gives you per calorie. Every 100 calories of eggplant carries 12 grams of fiber, 43% of the daily value, along with 40% of the daily value for manganese and 36% for copper.113
How you cook it changes that picture. USDA's entries show boiled, drained eggplant lower in some minerals and in folate: per 100 grams, potassium is 229 milligrams raw and 123 boiled, manganese 0.232 and 0.113 milligrams, and folate 22 and 14 micrograms.114 That's one reason to roast, grill or steam it instead.
Is eggplant good for you?
Quick answer
Yes. Eggplant is a low-calorie, fiber-rich vegetable with an antioxidant-rich skin, and human studies link it to a smaller blood-sugar rise after a starchy meal and better metabolic health markers, while eggplant powder lowered blood pressure in a 12-week trial.141516
Where the research stands
Eggplant's nutrition and skin compounds are measured directly, and a handful of human studies have tested eggplant itself. They include a meal trial in which 16 young women each ate rice alone and rice with steamed eggplant, a 12-week placebo-controlled trial of eggplant powder in 100 stressed adults, three Brazilian trials of eggplant preparations for cholesterol, and three large U.S. cohorts that counted eggplant together with summer squash.41617181915 The research on nasunin, chlorogenic acid and cooking comes from lab studies.
| Benefit | Evidence | What was studied | What the research shows | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Better metabolic health markers | Moderate | The questionnaire item eggplant or summer squash | Top 5 of 52 fruits and vegetables for metabolic markers15 | Higher-quality produce, this item included, went with 11% to 16% lower chronic-disease risk over up to 32 years15 |
Fiber for very few calories | Moderate | Eggplant's fiber; fiber intake in people | 2.46 g fiber per 20.5-calorie cup; more fiber, fewer deaths and less disease120 | Most benefit at 25 to 29 g of fiber a day |
A smaller blood-sugar rise after a starchy meal | Emerging | Steamed eggplant (300 g weighed raw) with a rice meal | Glycemic index 67, significantly lower than rice alone4 | Blended eggplant lost the effect |
Healthier blood pressure | Emerging | 1.2 g eggplant powder a day, with 2.3 mg acetylcholine, for 12 weeks | Lower diastolic pressure than placebo at week 8 across 77 adults; 5.6 points lower in the 53 with high-normal pressure16 | At week 12, systolic 7.6 and diastolic 7.3 points lower in the 24 with grade 1 hypertension |
Antioxidants in the skin | Preclinical | Chlorogenic acid, nasunin and other anthocyanins | Skin held more than twice the phenolics of the flesh in every color tested11 | Grilling and boiling raised chlorogenic acid in a lab test |
How does eggplant work in your body?
Eggplant works through its structure and its skin. Its intact, fiber-rich flesh slows how fast a starchy meal breaks down, and its skin carries antioxidant compounds, some of which gentle cooking raises.
1Mostly water and fiber
Raw eggplant is 92.3% water, with 3.0 grams of fiber in every 100 grams.1
2Eaten first
In the meal trial, a third of the steamed eggplant (100 grams weighed raw) came before the rice and the rest came with it.4
3Slower starch breakdown
In a lab digestion of the same meals, rice with steamed eggplant came in at 69.6% of rice alone on a measure of how fast its starch broke down.4
4Texture matters
When the eggplant was blended into a purée, the meals no longer differed from rice alone.4
5A smaller rise in people
The steamed eggplant meal had a glycemic index of 67, significantly lower than rice alone.4
Researchers at China Agricultural University tested this in 16 healthy young women, each of whom ate every test meal on separate days, in random order. Each rice meal held 50 grams of carbohydrate, and the eggplant version added 300 grams of eggplant, weighed raw and then steamed. Eggplant did the most of the three vegetables tested: rice with pak choi had a glycemic index of 71 and rice with cauliflower 73, and the eggplant meal brought the largest drops in both the peak and the overall rise in blood sugar over two hours. The researchers concluded that the texture of the whole cooked vegetable plays an important role.4 It was one meal in healthy young adults, and it's a good reason to keep your eggplant in pieces and eat it before the starch.
Steamed eggplant lowered a rice meal's glycemic index the most of three vegetables
Eggplant benefits, ranked by evidence
In order of evidence strength, eggplant helps most with better metabolic health markers, fiber for very few calories, a smaller blood-sugar rise after a starchy meal, healthier blood pressure and antioxidant protection from its skin.
1
Better metabolic health markers
Moderate evidenceHuman studyThree cohorts · 41,714 adults with blood tests; 207,241 followed for up to 32 yearsResearchers ranked 52 fruits and vegetables by how their intake tracked with 14 blood markers in 41,714 adults from three long-running U.S. cohorts, the Nurses' Health Studies and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. The questionnaire item "eggplant or summer squash" ranked in the top 5 of the 52, tied to better values in 4 of 5 marker groups: blood sugar and insulin, inflammation, the hormones fat tissue makes, and blood fats.15 When the team then followed 207,241 people for up to 32 years, those whose fruits and vegetables came more from the 19 highest-quality items, eggplant or summer squash among them, had 11% to 16% lower risk of major chronic disease at every level of total intake in this observational study.15
Study takeaway: eggplant or summer squash ranked in the top 5 of 52 fruits and vegetables for metabolic health markers.
2
Fiber for very few calories
Moderate evidenceUSDA composition · reviews of 185 cohort studies and 58 trials of fiberA cup of raw eggplant gives you 2.46 grams of fiber for 20.5 calories.1 In a series of reviews covering 185 cohort studies and 58 trials, the highest fiber eaters had 15% to 30% lower death rates and lower rates of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer than the lowest, and in the trials, more fiber went with lower body weight, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol. The benefits were greatest at 25 to 29 grams of fiber a day,20 and eggplant is an easy, low-calorie way to add to that total.
Study takeaway: the highest fiber eaters had 15% to 30% lower death rates than the lowest.
3
A smaller blood-sugar rise after a starchy meal
Emerging evidenceHuman studyRandomized meal trial · 16 healthy young women, each tried bothIn the meal trial described above, adding steamed eggplant, 300 grams weighed raw, to a rice meal brought its glycemic index down to 67, significantly lower than rice alone.4 With 2.36 grams of net carbs in a cup, eggplant is an easy fit for a blood-sugar-friendly plate.1
Study takeaway: a side of steamed eggplant lowered the glycemic index of a rice meal to 67.
4
Healthier blood pressure
Emerging evidenceHuman studyPlacebo-controlled trial · 100 stressed adults, 77 analyzed · 12 weeksIn Japan, 100 stressed adults with high-normal blood pressure or grade 1 hypertension took capsules of eggplant powder or a look-alike placebo every day for 12 weeks, and neither the people nor the researchers knew who got what. The daily powder supplied 2.3 milligrams of acetylcholine, a compound eggplant is rich in, and was made from about 22 grams of fresh eggplant.16 Measured as change from the start, diastolic pressure at week 8 was lower with the powder than with placebo across the 77 people analyzed, and 5.6 points lower in the 53 with high-normal pressure (27 on eggplant, 26 on placebo). In the researchers' additional analyses of measured values at week 12, systolic pressure was lower across the whole group, and the 24 with grade 1 hypertension (9 on eggplant, 15 on placebo) measured 7.6 points lower in systolic and 7.3 points lower in diastolic pressure than those on placebo. Those analyses also found better depression, anger and confusion scores on a standard mood questionnaire in the high-normal group by week 8 or 12, while stress ratings were similar in both groups.16 The powder was concentrated, and the study's senior author holds patents on eggplant's acetylcholine.21 In the same group's lab analysis of 26 varieties, acetylcholine ranged from 0.11 to 11 milligrams per 100 grams of fresh eggplant, and heating didn't reduce it.21
Study takeaway: eggplant powder kept diastolic blood pressure 5.6 points lower than placebo at week 8 in adults with high-normal pressure.
5
Antioxidants in the skin
Preclinical evidenceIn vitro (lab)Lab analyses of eggplant skin, flesh and pigments; one study in ratsChlorogenic acid is the main antioxidant in eggplant: USDA researchers measured 14 related compounds across seven commercial varieties, with chlorogenic acid predominant.2 The purple skin adds anthocyanins, nasunin in Japanese eggplant and a close cousin, delphinidin-3-rutinoside, in non-Japanese types.3 In lab tests, nasunin isolated from eggplant peels was a potent scavenger of superoxide, a reactive form of oxygen, and protected rat brain tissue against fat damage,10 and when rats were given it by mouth, it reached the blood intact within 15 minutes, absorbed about as well as other anthocyanins.22 In a lab analysis of black, purple and white Turkish eggplants, the skin held more than twice the phenolics of the flesh in every color. Measured as gallic acid equivalents, the skins held 17,193, 12,329 and 8,725 milligrams per kilogram for black, purple and white eggplant, against 6,552, 6,028 and 3,875 in the flesh.11
Study takeaway: eggplant skin held more than twice the phenolics of the flesh in every color tested.
Eggplant skin held more than twice the phenolics of the flesh in every color tested
Blood tests that track inflammation and blood sugar
If you're building your plate around vegetables like eggplant, these three numbers track how your body responds over the months. They reflect your whole pattern of eating and living rather than any single food.
- hs-CRP: A sensitive read on low-grade, body-wide inflammation.
- HbA1c: Where your blood sugar has averaged for the past three months.
- Fasting insulin: The insulin it takes to hold your blood sugar steady before breakfast.
See the cellular bloodwork panel
Have results? Analyze them free →Is eggplant a nightshade, and should you avoid it?
Yes, eggplant is a nightshade. It belongs to the family of nightshade vegetables, Solanaceae, along with tomatoes, peppers such as bell peppers, and white potatoes.9 Here's my guidance on nightshades:
Most people do fine with nightshades. If joint pain persists, a 3-week trial without tomatoes, peppers and eggplant will tell you.Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNSWritten in The Anti-Inflammatory Reset (2026), p. 26
With autoimmune disease, nightshades make symptoms worse for some people, though not for everybody, a point I've made on my show.23 If you have autoimmune disease along with leaky gut, I recommend setting nightshades aside, along with raw vegetables and salads, and eating mostly soups and steamed, baked or other cooked vegetables while your gut heals.23
Researchers are looking more closely at why some people react. Eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes each make their own glycoalkaloids, natural compounds that defend the plant.24 A 2023 review by University of Pittsburgh gastroenterologists described how these compounds can disrupt the gut lining and may activate mast cells in the gut wall, a possible trigger for symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.9 The clearest data so far come from potato compounds: solanine and chaconine made a layer of human intestinal cells leakier in the lab and worsened colon damage in mice bred to develop bowel inflammation.25 For joints, a controlled trial of a nightshade-free diet in 40 people with rheumatoid arthritis was registered in Iran in 2023, and its authors describe it as the first to test the question.26
You don't need to wait for that trial to learn how your own body responds. Take tomatoes, peppers and eggplant out for 3 weeks, then add them back one at a time, watching for 3 days after each for stiffness, puffiness or gut symptoms.6 The elimination diet guide walks through the same method for other foods.
Does eggplant contain solanine?
Eggplant's glycoalkaloids are mainly solamargine and solasonine, chemical cousins of the solanine in potatoes.24 In a lab analysis using mass spectrometry, common eggplant fruit carried about 14% of the glycoalkaloid level considered toxic, a level the researchers considered safe to eat.27 In a lab study of ripening, levels climbed in overripe fruit,28 so choose firm, glossy eggplants, cook them while they're fresh and trim off the green cap, which isn't eaten.12
How to cook eggplant so it doesn't soak up oil
Quick answer
Roast, grill, steam or air-fry eggplant with a light brush of extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil instead of frying it. Its spongy flesh soaks up oil: deep-fried eggplant came out 37.8% fat by weight in a lab test, against 0.1% raw.5
In that lab cooking study, researchers deep-fried 120 grams of eggplant cubes in virgin avocado oil at 180°C (356°F), with 5 parts oil to 1 part eggplant, conditions drawn from traditional Spanish and Mexican recipes. As the spongy flesh lost water, dropping from 93.3% moisture to 45.9%, oil filled the space, and the fried cubes came out 37.8% fat by weight, against 0.1% for raw eggplant. Boiling the cubes in a water-and-oil mix, one part oil to nine parts water, left them at 6.4%.5
Deep-fried eggplant came out 37.8% fat by weight; raw eggplant is 0.1%
My Anti-Inflammatory Reset starts by cutting fried food and seed oils, and you cook with olive oil, avocado oil, ghee or coconut oil instead.6 A brush of oil is all eggplant needs.
Cooking also changes what eggplant gives you. Grilled and boiled eggplant carried more chlorogenic and caffeic acid than raw, and extracts of cooked eggplant calmed the oxidative burst of human immune cells in a lab test at lower concentrations than raw extracts did.29 In a lab study of dark purple eggplant, frying raised chlorogenic acid and its related antioxidants by 74%, while baking, boiling and grilling lowered them. In a simulated digestion, though, baking freed the largest share of its antioxidant compounds for absorption: 45%, against 33% for grilled and 22% for fried. The fried eggplant, which started with the most, still ended with the highest total.7 In a lab cooking study, cooking vegetables in extra virgin olive oil, eggplant among them, added the oil's own phenols, such as hydroxytyrosol, and raised the vegetables' chlorogenic acid.30 A quick steam or sauté can make some nutrients more available, which is why I don't treat raw vegetables as automatically better.31
Your gut bacteria respond to the method, too. When researchers fed fried, grilled and roasted eggplant, garlic and onion to human gut bacteria in a lab model of digestion, roasting led to a much higher ratio of beneficial to unfavorable microbes than grilling or frying, possibly because the roasted vegetables were cooked without oil.32 Keep the heat moderate and don't char it: high, dry oven heat can form acrylamide, and a Japanese lab test found high levels in eggplant baked at 220°C (428°F).33
Roasted eggplant
Cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes or half-inch slices, toss them lightly with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, garlic and herbs, and roast at 375°F to 400°F until golden and creamy inside, turning once. For roasting and sautéing, use a good everyday extra virgin olive oil, then finish with a raw drizzle of a fresh, peppery one. Salting the slices first is optional and only changes the texture and bitterness.
Air fryer eggplant
Toss cubes or slices with a teaspoon or two of avocado oil and cook them in an air fryer at 375°F to 400°F, shaking the basket halfway, until browned at the edges. For high heat, such as grilling or a hot air fryer, reach for avocado oil.
Grilled or steamed eggplant
Grill thick slices brushed with avocado oil over medium-high heat until tender, or steam thin slices for about 10 minutes, as in the blood-sugar meal trial,4 then dress them with olive oil, lemon and herbs. Leave the skin on either way. My rule of thumb for colorful plants is that the deeper the color, the stronger the healing potential,31 and with eggplant, that color sits in the skin, which held more than twice the phenolics of the flesh, gram for gram.11
Blend roasted eggplant with tahini, lemon, garlic and olive oil for baba ganoush
Simmer it with tomatoes, zucchini and peppers in ratatouille
Grill thick slices and top them with goat cheese, basil and a drizzle of olive oil
Find more dishes in these eggplant recipes
Cooking eggplant this week?
Ask Dr. Axe AI; it answers from this library and cites its sources.
How much eggplant should you eat?
Quick answer
There's no set amount for a vegetable like eggplant; a cup or two at a meal is a good serving. My Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes protocol sets at least 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables at every meal, eaten first, and eggplant can be part of that.34
In my blood-sugar protocols, non-starchy vegetables fill half the plate, with a quarter for protein and a quarter for smart carbs.3534 Treat eggplant as one color in that half. In my Anti-Inflammatory Reset, the goal is at least five colors of plants a day,6 and eggplant brings the purple, so rotate it with greens, reds and oranges through the week. If vegetables are new to your plate, add them a little at a time so your gut can adjust.
How to buy and store eggplant
Buying. Pick eggplants that feel heavy for their size, with tight, glossy skin, a fresh green cap and no soft or brown spots. Choose firm fruit and use it while it's fresh.
Organic. I recommend buying organic when possible,8 and with eggplant, you eat the skin.
Storing. Eggplant is sensitive to cold, and storage below its chilling threshold damages the fruit,36 so keep it in a cool spot or the warmest part of your refrigerator and cook it within a few days. Wash it under running water just before cooking.
Eggplant side effects and who should be careful
Quick answer
Eggplant is an everyday food that suits most people well. The cautions are an uncommon eggplant allergy, its histamine if you have histamine intolerance, and nightshade sensitivity in some people with joint pain or autoimmune disease.3738623
Can you be allergic to eggplant?
Yes, though true allergy is uncommon. In a study of 741 people in Mysore, India, 9.2% reported a reaction after eating eggplant, and the researchers estimated true, antibody-driven allergy at about 0.8%, with women about twice as likely to be sensitized as men. They suggested many of the reactions came from histamine and other natural compounds rather than an allergic protein.37 Eggplant's suspected allergens include a lipid transfer protein and profilin, and some people who react to certain pollens react to eggplant too.39 For the full list of warning signs, see food allergy symptoms.
Eggplant and histamine
Fresh eggplant carries more histamine than fresh tomatoes. In a Greek lab analysis, five fresh eggplants held 15.4 to 34.2 milligrams of histamine per kilogram, against 0.82 to 1.4 for fresh tomatoes, in the same range as spinach.38
Nightshade sensitivity
If joint pain or an autoimmune condition is part of your picture, start with the 3-week trial in the nightshade section above.
Interaction check: Low. Eggplant has no documented drug interactions as a food, and a cup carries only small amounts of vitamin K (2.9 micrograms) and potassium (188 milligrams).1
Who should be careful with eggplant:
If eggplant has made your mouth itch or brought on hives or swelling, stop eating it and see an allergist
If any food brings on swelling in your throat, wheezing or faintness, call 911 right away
With histamine intolerance, add eggplant in small amounts and watch how you feel
The bottom line
Should you eat eggplant?
Yes. Eggplant is one of the most versatile vegetables you can cook: about 20 calories and 2.5 grams of fiber in a cup, a purple skin full of chlorogenic acid and anthocyanins, and a texture that steadied the blood-sugar rise of a rice meal in a meal trial of 16 healthy young women. Its place in Turkish, Chinese and Indian traditional medicine is worth respecting, and human studies are now measuring its benefits for blood sugar, blood pressure and metabolic health.
Roast, grill, steam or air-fry it with a brush of olive or avocado oil, keep the skin on, choose organic when it's available, and let it fill part of the vegetable half of your plate. Keep that plate colorful, and let your body do what it was designed to do: heal.
Get the free Anti-Inflammatory Reset
Four phases over 30 days, with at least five colors of plants a day and a 7-day anti-inflammatory meal plan. Have recent bloodwork? Analyze it free.
Free with your Dr. Axe account (email or Google). You'll also get the protocol's short email series and the Dr. Axe newsletter; unsubscribe anytime.
Open the free protocol →Eggplant: frequently asked questions
Is eggplant good for you?
How many calories are in eggplant?
Does eggplant have protein?
A little: 0.8 grams in a cup of raw cubes, or 0.98 grams per 100 grams.1 Pair it with lentils, chickpeas, fish or eggs for a filling meal.
Is eggplant a fruit or a vegetable?
Botanically it's a fruit, since it grows from the flower and carries the seeds, but you cook and eat it as a vegetable, and it's on my list of vegetables to eat.8
Is eggplant a nightshade?
Is eggplant inflammatory?
Not for most people.6 In three large U.S. cohorts, the questionnaire item eggplant or summer squash went with better inflammation markers, and eggplant's skin is rich in chlorogenic acid and anthocyanins.1523 If your joints flare after nightshades, the nightshade section above shows how to test your own response.6
Does eggplant contain solanine?
Not as its main glycoalkaloid: eggplant's are mainly solamargine and solasonine, chemical cousins of the solanine in potatoes.24 A lab analysis found common eggplant at about 14% of the level considered toxic, a level the researchers considered safe to eat, and levels rise in overripe fruit, so choose firm, glossy eggplants.2728
Can you eat eggplant raw?
Should you eat eggplant skin?
Is eggplant keto-friendly?
Is eggplant good for weight loss?
Is eggplant good for diabetics?
Does eggplant lower cholesterol?
As part of your plate, it goes with better blood fats: in three large U.S. cohorts, the questionnaire item eggplant or summer squash went with better blood-fat markers, and in a five-week Brazilian trial of 38 people with high cholesterol, those drinking an eggplant infusion saw their total and LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B fall.1517 That drop wasn't larger than with placebo or dietary advice, and two other small Brazilian trials, of an eggplant extract with orange juice and of powdered eggplant capsules, found no improvement beyond no treatment or placebo.171819 Its place is on your plate, as a fiber-rich, low-calorie swap for fried sides.1
Does eggplant lower blood pressure?
Eggplant powder did in one trial: in a 12-week placebo-controlled trial of 100 stressed adults in Japan (77 analyzed), capsules supplying 2.3 milligrams of acetylcholine a day left diastolic pressure lower than placebo at week 8 across the group, and 5.6 points lower in the 53 with high-normal pressure.16 Eggplant's acetylcholine holds up to heat.21
What is nasunin?
Why does eggplant soak up so much oil?
Its flesh is spongy and full of water, and as frying drives the water out, oil moves in: in a lab test, deep-fried eggplant went from 93.3% to 45.9% moisture and came out 37.8% fat by weight.5 Brush on a little oil and roast, grill or air-fry it instead.
Can you be allergic to eggplant?
Yes, though it's uncommon: in a study of 741 people in India, 9.2% reported a reaction to eating eggplant, and true, antibody-driven allergy was estimated at about 0.8%.37
Freshness & update log
October 12, 2026 — Rewrote the page in full. The previous version, "Top 10 Benefits of Eggplant Nutrition (Plus How to Eat It)," listed 10 benefits without numbered references. This version re-pulls the nutrition from USDA FoodData Central with current daily values (per cup, copper is 7% and manganese 8% of the daily value); reports the human studies on eggplant itself, including a meal trial on blood sugar, a placebo-controlled trial of eggplant powder for blood pressure, three Brazilian cholesterol trials and three large U.S. cohorts; and corrects five claims: that eggplant is a top cholesterol-lowering food (the trials found no lasting drop), that a cream made from eggplant skin was clinically proven against skin cancer (the trial behind that claim tested a 0.005% cream of plant glycosides on the skin, and eating eggplant wasn't studied), that nasunin binds heavy metals (the lab data show it binds iron), that eggplant has 13 kinds of phenolic acids (researchers measured 14 related compounds) and that eggplant leaves contain solanine (eggplant's glycoalkaloids are mainly solamargine and solasonine). It removes the unsourced claim that nightshades are high in oxalic acid; adds Dr. Axe's guidance on nightshades, how to cook eggplant without soaking up oil, and allergy and histamine notes; and adds charts of the frying study, skin-versus-flesh phenolics and the meal trial, plus a step diagram of how steamed eggplant slowed a rice meal. Scored under the current food weighting (editorial score 5.6). The free guide is the Anti-Inflammatory Reset.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Eggplant, raw. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 169228. Published April 1, 2019.
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