Hi.

I have been eating a raw diet for almost 4 months and in the last month I've noticed that I often get mucous/phlem in my throat after eating a meal or snack. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know the cause?

thanks for your insight,

Mark

This is mucus protection from something less-than-ideal that you are eating. This exact same thing happens to me, and I've observed this for years. I don't recall it ever happening before raw though. I think the body's primal intelligence becomes more active when we are raw and it starts to quickly identify harmful things and creates mucus to eliminate them.

Some contributors to this phenomenon for me:

Salt
Starchy raw foods
Capsaicin (hot peppers)

Cheers,

LTF

I don't use salt or hot peppers... is it possible that this mucous comes from eating too much sweet fruit?

LTF, thanks for your post.

Best,
Mark



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2006 04:30AM by mark58.

No, fruit is ideal and cleansing, not mucus forming at all. What else are you eating?

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

mark58 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't use salt or hot peppers... is it possible
> that this mucous comes from eating too much sweet
> fruit?

It's possible that the cleansing from the fruit is carrying out older toxins in a "medium" of mucous.

I have experienced this.

Cheers,

LTF

"It's possible that the cleansing from the fruit is carrying out older toxins in a "medium" of mucous"

Yes, that would be my guess. Mucous is a cleansing reaction or cleansing meduim as you say. The appearance of mucous means your body is strong enough to throw off old toxins. Nice work LTF.

Hi Audry.

I am on the Ann Wigmore Diet...
so lots of energy soups with apple or watermelon, buckwheat & sunflower greens, lettuce, avocado, and sprouts (usually mung bean, alfalfa, and/or lentils), sometimes I add other veggies (cucumber, beets and beet greens, swiss chard…).

Breakfast is usually a mix of fruit, occasionally with buckwheat sprouts, and almond, sunflower or sesame milk.

For lunch and dinner I have the energy soup and a salad (containing some of the above ingredients plus some fennel, red or yellow pepper, or carrots), some seaweed and some fermented veggies.

Other foods: Soaked and sprouted seeds and nuts (occasionally a grain, but I am moving toward eliminating grains from my diet… feels right), Rejuvelac, and wheatgrass juice.

I think that covers everything.

Thank you all for your insights,
Mark

Hi Mark,

After a quick scan of your diet, I would highlight the following suspects as contributing to the phlegm:

Sprouted legumes: mung beans, alfalfa, lentils. Definitely lentils as they are starchy.
High oxalic acid greens (beet greens, swiss chard)
Starchy seed (buckwheat)
Sprouted grain

Do you use any form of salt at all, such as tamari/nama shoyu, unrinsed seaweed? These could also contribute to mucus production.

Cheers,

LTF

Thanks LTF.

Should I look at this mucous as a sign to eliminate its cause from my diet...?
or do you think it is a temporary phase of detoxing (as suggested with the fruit) and of no real concern?

I had a salad last night (unblended and without fruit) in order to test some foods. The mucous appeared. >Sprouted legumes: mung beans, alfalfa, lentils. Definitely lentils as they are starchy< (all in the salad) at least one or all are most likely the cause. I am also suspicious of the baby buckwheat greens.

Thanks for your insight,
Mark

nut milks, & fermented vegies will do it...
for me also: spirulina & yeast flakes,
also - cashews & brazil nuts, which i don't believe really r raw...

LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

thanks,
Mark

LTF (or anyone)

Should I look at this mucous as an allergic reaction and a sign to eliminate its cause from my diet...?
or do you think it is a temporary phase of detoxing (as suggested with the fruit) and of no real concern?

thanks for your reply,
Mark

that's a million dollar question, that many raw fooders ask themselve, as far as i know, ....i've never managed to find answer for it, in 3.5 years of being totally raw....maybe it takes longer
LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

I would imagine any food, including fruit, could be mucous forming if you overeat it, because if any food is overeaten it spoils.

Robert Gray (wrote a book about gut flora and mucoid-forming foods) says, buckwheat sprouts are starchy unless they are sprouted at least for six days. They then turn into leafy greens.
I experienced congested sinuses when eating buckwheat sprouts (3 days sprouted), and they also are somehow addicitve to me - probably because of their high glutamic acid, which might react as a neurotransmitter in the brain. (Glutami acid-rich foods are not so good, if one has leaky gut: the proteins are able to have excitotoxic actions by going into the bloodstream to the brain...) So I stopped using them.

mark58 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Should I look at this mucous as a sign to
> eliminate its cause from my diet...?
> or do you think it is a temporary phase of
> detoxing (as suggested with the fruit) and of no
> real concern?

If mucous is raised immediately, IMO it os proof that your body is defending itself against elements within that food. IMO this is a sign to eliminate that food from your diet. Fruit may be the only exception to this, as with fruit it is most likely the fruit acids/sugars that are cleansing and bringing out old toxins, and the body creates mucuos to carry them out.

> I had a salad last night (unblended and without
> fruit) in order to test some foods. The mucous
> appeared. >Sprouted legumes: mung beans, alfalfa,
> lentils. Definitely lentils as they are starchy<
> (all in the salad) at least one or all are most
> likely the cause. I am also suspicious of the baby
> buckwheat greens.

I would suspect the leafy sprouts last (alfalfa and buckwheat greens) since they are starchless. Lentils would be the #1 suspect for me, then the mung beans. By eliminating single ingredients one by one, you may be able to pinpoint if it is ONLY the lentils, or if some of the others are contributing as well.

Cheers,

LTF

mark58 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> LTF (or anyone)
>
> Should I look at this mucous as an allergic
> reaction and a sign to eliminate its cause from my
> diet...?
> or do you think it is a temporary phase of
> detoxing (as suggested with the fruit) and of no
> real concern?

Mucous production is always a sign that your body is defending itself. (Personally I wouldn't call this an allergic reaction, but an indication of a vibrant and intelligent immune system that is recognizing the subtler toxins in foods.)

The only exception I can think of is when you eat a very clean, cleansing food like juicy fruit and it raises mucuos.

Cheers,

LTF

Hi mark58,

I just wanted to clarify that when I originally wrote that buckwheat sprouts are starchy, I was referring to the seed sprouted or soaked and eaten whole. These are very starchy. This is different from buckwheat greens (grown from that seed) which are leafy and starchless.

Cheers,

LTF

P.S. Technically speaking there may be a bit of starch in the stem of buckwheat greens (not 100% sure), but if there is IMO this is insignificant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2006 03:53PM by learningtofly.

I've noticed that this will happen to me after eating cashews and other so-called "raw" nuts, as well as raw garbanzo hummus. I think it's a reaction to the lectins in the sprouted legumes and the oxidized/rancid fats in the cashews (which, though they may be called raw, are twice roasted at up to 350F during shelling).

I get phlegm in my throat immediately every time I eat greens - ANY greens - even a small amount and even though they are raw organic. If I answer the phone right after eating greens, people ask me if I have a cold. Often I wake up with a sore throat after eating greens. In addition, my eyes swell and stay swollen for a couple of days, and I feel tired. I've been like this for many years. I eat greens anyway, and I'm able to eat them more often now that I'm running. Fasting occasionally seems to help a little, but still I can't eat greens everyday. I have to give it a break (like today) and eat just fruit and nuts/seeds to get my energy back and my eyes unswollen.

The other day, my friend fixed me just about a quarter cup of fresh wheat grass juice, and I immediately felt woozy and a strong sensation of having to go to sleep - almost a prickly feeling all over my face and in my brain. Any ideas?

Fruits and nuts/seeds never do that to me (I don't eat cashews or nut butters).

Mark58, do you get phlegm after eating just fruit?

-Ally

Ally Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I get phlegm in my throat immediately every time I
> eat greens - ANY greens - even a small amount and
> even though they are raw organic. If I answer the
> phone right after eating greens, people ask me if
> I have a cold. Often I wake up with a sore throat
> after eating greens. In addition, my eyes swell
> and stay swollen for a couple of days, and I feel
> tired. I've been like this for many years. I eat
> greens anyway, and I'm able to eat them more often
> now that I'm running. Fasting occasionally seems
> to help a little, but still I can't eat greens
> everyday. I have to give it a break (like today)
> and eat just fruit and nuts/seeds to get my energy
> back and my eyes unswollen.
>
> The other day, my friend fixed me just about a
> quarter cup of fresh wheat grass juice, and I
> immediately felt woozy and a strong sensation of
> having to go to sleep - almost a prickly feeling
> all over my face and in my brain. Any ideas?
>
> Fruits and nuts/seeds never do that to me (I don't
> eat cashews or nut butters).
>
> Mark58, do you get phlegm after eating just
> fruit?
>
> -Ally

Now THAT sounds like an allergy.. Does lettuce do this too?

Dear learningtofly.

Yes

-Ally

>Mark58, do you get phlegm after eating just fruit?

-Ally<


Hi Ally.
It seems that I always get "some" phlegm (in different degrees) after eating just about anything. I started the Master Cleanse yesterday and I still have phlegm. It is less but still there. I hope to be rid of it by the end of the cleanse and then start introducing foods one at a time to find the culprit/s.

thanks.
Peace,
Mark

I get flem after eating any kind of nuts.

I wish you well on your cleanse, mark!

I thought about this. Well, haveyou ever had chronic acid reflux or heartburn in your life? What I know from myself is that I did, and I always had phlegm in my throat. I still get it now and then because my esophagus is trying to heal. Just a thought.

Another thing I thought of is.."Why do pepole think that mucus is such a bad thing? The body naturally produces the stuff to keep everything moist and working. If it is in excess, then maybe it could be allergies from pollen and molds. This is allergy season, you know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2006 02:38AM by shep252.

Hi Shep.

I've never experienced acid reflux (that I know of) or serious heartburn of late.

I am on day 6 of the cleanse and the phlegm is mostly gone now.

I just read in David Klein's book that mucous/phlegm is the bodies response to toxins (can't find the passage right now).

peace,
Mark