Spinach, Swiss Chard and Beet tastes soapy, acrid

[slaithe]

So I've been fasting since July 31st. Not strictly a juice fast, but I've been having 12-24 oz of fruit juice (apple, orange, pineapple) a day for the past week.

Today I was going to do some veggies. Took spinach and swiss chard from my back yard and some store bought organic beet. There wasn't anything else immediately available.

Made only about 6oz of juice and diluted with 6oz distilled water. Tasted quite soapy and irritates/burns my tongue and throat. Only drank about 7oz over a couple hours before giving up. Also got a bit of the runs which is a little odd since I have had little or no bowel movement in past couple weeks.

What's up with that? I've juiced spinach and swiss chard from my garden, before, and noticed a lesser amount of this. Probably b/c I usually include a bunch of carrots as a base. Never had swiss chard from a grocery store.

I'm sure it wasn't the beet. Though it had lost some of its firmness, I bit off a bit, chewed to get the taste and spat it out. Wasn't a very sweet beet, but not the acrid catalyst, either.

Guess I'll just juice some swiss chard and spinach separately, tomorrow to narrow down what's causing it.

So this post is just to possibly get some quick answers/opinions, until then, leading into possible further discussion based on my findings.

Is it me? Am I very sensitive somehow due to the fast? The fruit juices I made all taste fine (store bought produce). I've noticed the nantes carrots I grow also have a certain zest bordering on caustic. Maybe I'm just being a paranoid hypochondriac. :P

[streetsurfer]

Read up on saponins. Natural soaps in plants. Parsley is high in it I think.
Not sure about the plants you refer to. Chapparal is very high in it. I make tea sun tea of it. When you shake the jar it makes soap bubbles.

Your tasters may be more sensitive to it than others are. Your plants too, may have produced more due to extreme weather conditions we all seem to be under. Just as heat and drought can make hot peppers hotter, I suppose it can make other plants produce more of one substance or another that might help them meet adverse conditions. I imagine saponins could fit into that weather related increase in phytochemicals.

[slaithe]

Thank you for your reply. You provide some valid points of interest for consideration and further research!
Indeed, here in DFW, Texas one reason those plants were chosen from my garden is they're the only ones who are alive and healthy despite the heat!

[streetsurfer]

I just noticed this was your first post(s) here. Welcome to the forum!

Yes too, that fasting, cleaning up a diet, and/or increased juicing can give you a heightened sensitivity to tastes in things. I think it really comes from the elimination of using things that would impede the tastebuds......preservatives or flavor enhancers, added salts, etc. Diry will thicken and change ph of mucosal tissue and I believe that effect might change taste sensations since the mouth is full of mucosal tissue.
Is your tounge coated white or does it appear a bit "fuzzy" after the fast? That can be a sign of detox and will, or can by itself, impart an odd taste to food or drink.
Keep well hydrated with water to help flush this out of your system if it is contributing.

[slaithe]

Indeed. I have a tongue scraper just for this purpose. While juicing the process seems "slowed down/milder" and the film developing on my tongue lessens than on days when I intake only water/UT.

Thanks, again!

[Juicerguy]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Something you might find interesting that I know I did when I found out. I am not saying this is positively what is happening in your case here, because it sounds like there were other symptoms also.

I had on and off noticed a burning sensation I will get in my throat when I drink some juices. It is not incredibly overwhelming, but it has been more so in some juices than others. Have you read about oxalic acid? I was researching a bunch about oxalic acid in relation to the absorption of calcium in certain vegetables and I came across quite a few different articles where people were talking about how the oxalates in some vegetables can produce a burning sensation possibly in some peoples throats when you make juices out of them.

This is because oxalic acid binds with calcium and forms calcium oxalate crystals which apparently according to some you can feel in your throat as it travels down. I was just reading what you said and found it interesting because every item you mentioned happens to be higher in oxalic acid, with spinach being the one with the highest amount among the vegetables you juiced.

Oxalic acid is the reason why spinach which a lot of people talk about being high in calcium, is actually not an available for your body source of this mineral. It is bound up and either gets stored in your kidneys(some think this contributes to kidney stone formation as a high percentage of kidney stones happen to be mainly comprised of calcium oxalate) or it gets flushed from the body in your urine. I tend to think the latter would occur more as everything I read suggested you drink water when you eat vegetables higher in oxalic acid and since when you are juicing it is already travelling in liquid form... It most likely flushes from the body in my opinion.

Anyways... When I came across a few other people talking about burning in the throat and how it was most likely the oxalic acid I found it interesting. I also usually only notice any kind of sensation like that in the throat when I am drinking juices higher in oxalates. This may not be everything that is happening with you here, but I just thought I would add my 2 cents as I noticed you had talked about burning in the throat.

Hope the rest of your cleanse goes well and again welcome to the forum!