Dark Green Phlem, but otherwise feel fine

[nuttflower]

My husband and I have been drinking fresh pressed juice for 8 days straight now. They consist of: carrots, beets, parsley, ginger, oranges, apples. We each drink about 24 oz. each morning. After about 3 days of this my husband started caughing up this very dark green phlem in the morning. At day 7 he was caughing up the phlem all day. Besides the phlem he feels fine. No fever, full energy, just has the annoyance of the phlem. The color scares me. Could it be that his body is detoxing from the juice?

[National Jewish]

This is a very strange reaction.  What I would suggest is stopping all of the juice for a period of days until the mucus production is totally gone.  Then reintroduce ONE item at a time to see if there are one or more offending foods that are causing the problem. It is hard to know if the color is simply a mixture of the different color foods or another totally different problem.

[nuttflower]

Thanks for your reply.

My husband has NO problems with his stomach and absolutely no problem passing waste. He's a very 'regular' guy. He's never had intergestion and doesn't have reflux.

The problem is in his lungs. Again, he feels 100%, he looks great, he has tons of energy (we're in our early 30's and pretty active). He hacks up this awful green phlem in the mornings this past week. He's not one to take antibiotics, so he doesn't want to see a doctor as that is most likely what they'd suggest. We were just curious if anyone had heard of something like this when a diet of raw veggies has been introduced by way of detox.

He's not a smoker, but grew-up in a house where his parents did smoke. My thought is that this is his body's way of cleansing itself.

The reason I've reported no problems with myself is that I'm 12 weeks pregnant and I feel woozy most of the day, so I wouldn't be able to tell if it was from 'juicing' or just morning sickness.

[bactitech]

Detoxing takes place via urine, liver, and feces. I am NOT, repeat NOT a doctor. My husband and mother both suffer from GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). [I am a medical technologist who works in a lab.] Just a suggestion - maybe he has this? Perhaps his stomach isn't emptying correctly??? Maybe things aren't "going through" like they should. That stuff has lots of fiber. Is he drinking lots of water to make his stool soft? Remember, your large intestine is where the water is absorbed.

Since you are drinking the same thing and it isn't happening to you, I think you need to call a doc [personal opinion here].

My mother and husband have a history, between them, of trouble swallowing, unremittant heartburn. They've both been on Nexium, and previous to that, Prilosec, for quite some time.

Something doesn't sound right in the plumbing and he needs to be checked out.

Is he having regular bowel movements? If he hasn't had one in quite awhile [read that "days"], and shows any distension, he needs to be seen by a doc PRONTO (as in immediately).

http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic781.htm

Check this out (you may have to register for the site, but it's free):

http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic300.htm

"Pathophysiology: Schematically, the esophagus, LES, and stomach can be envisioned as a simple plumbing circuit as described by Stein and coworkers (Stein, 1992). The esophagus functions as an antegrade pump, the LES as a valve, and the stomach as a reservoir. The abnormalities that contribute to GERD can stem from any component of the system. Poor esophageal motility decreases clearance of acidic material. A dysfunctional LES allows reflux of large amounts of gastric juice, and delayed gastric emptying can increase volume and pressure in the reservoir until the valve mechanism is defeated, leading to GERD. From a medical or surgical standpoint, it is extremely important to identify which of these components is defective so that effective therapy can be applied.

Esophageal defense mechanisms can be broken down into 2 categories, ie, esophageal clearance and mucosal resistance. Proper esophageal clearance is an extremely important factor in preventing mucosal injury. Normal clearance limits the amount of time the esophagus is exposed to refluxed acid or bile and gastric acid mixtures. Abnormal peristalsis can cause inefficient and delayed acid clearance. Whether peristaltic dysfunction is secondary to esophageal exposure to acids or a primary defect is not understood clearly. In a review by Kahrilas et al, peristaltic dysfunction was progressively more common in patients with greater degrees of esophagitis (Kahrilas, 1986). Abnormal peristalsis was identified in 25% of patients with mild esophagitis and 48% of patients with severe esophagitis."

There's lots more in the article. Obviously this is a complicated issue that only a doc can fully address. He could always stop drinking this concoction and see if things clear up :-).

You don't want all that acid refluxing into your esophagus, believe me. It can cause a lot of damage. See a doc soon.