Every time I eat ghee I get crazy amounts of intestinal mucus.  I'm 99.9% sure it's caused by ghee because it happens every single time I eat ghee and stops if I don't eat it.  Anyone else experience this or thoughts on whether it could potentially be a good thing?  I love ghee, but I've rarely been eating it because it's difficult to pass all that jelly-like mucus  (sorry for the imagery ).

I know of mucus with several digestive diseases (see link below)
http://ibdcrohns.about.com/od/relatedconditions/f/mucusstool.htm

Not sure about a link with ghee, but that is supposed to help heal digestive stuff so maybe that's what is going on???? Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge than me will be along to help.......

Thanks   I don't really think it's anything like IBD or crohns because it only happens when I eat ghee, but I thought the same thing about it healing the digestive system.  

He brinski - what do you eat with the ghee, is the ghee home made, is it cooked enough to get most milk protein out of it. if you heat it and it gets dark golden quickly then it needed more cooking when being prepared so to speak.

easy way to find out is to use a teaspoonful to cook an omelet very gently. if it's bought then it could be anything so you may have to see if you get the same result from home made. also shop bought ghee doesn't tend to be organic. so could be other issues perhaps.

i use a teaspoon every day to cook my egg and have no mucus problem.

do you use a gluten free bread that perhaps had dairy in it, or other avoids - that used to cause me problems - now i hardy bother with bread unless home made.

worth reading this other thread perhaps too http://www.dadamo.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1323858252/s-new/

I just use it on vegetables and fish.  I don't eat grains, so no bread.  It happens with both homemade and store-bought (the store-bought is organic and says that it's lactose and casein free.  This stuff http://www.iherb.com/Purity-Farms-Organic-Ghee-Clarified-Butter-13-oz-368-g/26860?at=0 ).  I don't know what's going on - it seems weird  

sounds like it's the ghee then.

how much do you use a day?

may i suggest you cook the same stuff but use the same amount of olive oil and see if you get the same problem. if not it's the ghee alright.

why not try steaming the fish and the vegetables and using cold oils pesto on them ? that's what we do now.

only use ghee for my egg and that's not high temp anyway max of a teaspoon a day in my swami that's not a lot...

what's on yours perhaps you just use too much?

I'm really not sure how much I use at a time, probably 2tsp to 1tbs.  According to swami, I can have about 1tbs/day.  I rarely eat it two days in a row because of all the mucus.  I can eat large amounts of oils or fatty things like peanut butter without any problem.  I don't know what it is about ghee.  I wish I knew if the mucus is a bad thing or a "cleansing" thing.

Quoted from brinyskysail

I'm really not sure how much I use at a time, probably 2tsp to 1tbs.  According to swami, I can have about 1tbs/day.  I rarely eat it two days in a row because of all the mucus.  I can eat large amounts of oils or fatty things like peanut butter without any problem.  I don't know what it is about ghee.  I wish I knew if the mucus is a bad thing or a "cleansing" thing.

Re whether it is a cleansing thing or not...I think I can relate -
Quite a while back (over 12 months ago) I experienced strong cravings for carob & ghee & had mixed it together & been eating it quite a bit... After a while I started to have quite a problem with nasal mucous but also didn't know at the time, if it was associated with what I was eating, or the fumes at work?!

What I do remember is that I ended up with what seemed like full on cold symptoms (& excuse the graphic imagery) - I was amazed at exactly how much I seemed to be able to blow out of my nose??!! Considering that the small amount of ghee was the only dairy I was having it was out of proportion how much my body was producing I remember at the time thinking it seemed to be a healing process I was experiencing & after it cleared up I have never had those symptoms come back, despite having other reactions to the ongoing problems of the fumes at work...& strangely the strong craving for ghee & carob went away...Maybe my body did need it to heal?

& just thought to add - I don't really eat ghee now but do crave & eat butter & even cream at times & rarely have mucous issues ever... Only if I accidently have wheat or sugar or some other avoid like that...

Quoted from Possum

Re whether it is a cleansing thing or not...I think I can relate -
Quite a while back (over 12 months ago) I experienced strong cravings for carob & ghee & had mixed it together & been eating it quite a bit... After a while I started to have quite a problem with nasal mucous but also didn't know at the time, if it was associated with what I was eating, or the fumes at work?!

What I do remember is that I ended up with what seemed like full on cold symptoms (& excuse the graphic imagery) - I was amazed at exactly how much I seemed to be able to blow out of my nose??!! Considering that the small amount of ghee was the only dairy I was having it was out of proportion how much my body was producing I remember at the time thinking it seemed to be a healing process I was experiencing & after it cleared up I have never had those symptoms come back, despite having other reactions to the ongoing problems of the fumes at work...& strangely the strong craving for ghee & carob went away...Maybe my body did need it to heal?

& just thought to add - I don't really eat ghee now but do crave & eat butter & even cream at times & rarely have mucous issues ever... Only if I accidently have wheat or sugar or some other avoid like that...

That's how I feel.  Even if I don't eat much ghee, I end up with a lot of mucus.  That's interesting, Possum; thanks for sharing.

Quoted from brinyskysail

Every time I eat ghee I get crazy amounts of intestinal mucus.  I'm 99.9% sure it's caused by ghee because it happens every single time I eat ghee and stops if I don't eat it.  Anyone else experience this or thoughts on whether it could potentially be a good thing?  I love ghee, but I've rarely been eating it because it's difficult to pass all that jelly-like mucus  (sorry for the imagery ).

Further to Possum's possibility of cleansing, my suggestion is to ask passionprincess about her detox. She has a thread about her issues with candida. Some of it was rather graphic and if I can recall correctly there was mucus or something mucus-like in the bowel movement. For passionprincess it was coconut oil (PP is B). It's possible that ghee has the same effect on you.

Cheers
Andrew

Quoted from Andrew

Further to Possum's possibility of cleansing, my suggestion is to ask passionprincess about her detox. She has a thread about her issues with candida. Some of it was rather graphic and if I can recall correctly there was mucus or something mucus-like in the bowel movement. For passionprincess it was coconut oil (PP is B). It's possible that ghee has the same effect on you.

Cheers
Andrew

I love that thread - that whole experience was amazing!

I'm very familiar with candida mucus and the "ghee mucus" seems very different, but it may be something of a similar sort.  hmmm...

You may be eating too much ghee for your body, even though the Explorer food list allows it.  Many of us have greatly reduced ghee allowances on our SWAMIs.

I'll do some experimenting with different amounts and see what happens

i remember a number of years ago i was at a seminar that talked about when the body gets the right tools to start healing itself. One of the "symptoms" of healing is that your body will "revisit" past problems (injuries, serious illnesses, etc). Once the body has the tools to properly repair something, it will go back and resurrect the problem - almost to the extreme. But once it's done, it's healed and that problem won't (or shouldn't) recur.

I have seen this happen with others, and i am currently going thru it myself. I  cracked some ribs about 15 or 16 years ago... not fun. But i was living as a vegan at the time and i never thought it healed up quite right. Since switching to swami... i have been having a terrible time with those ribs... but i know that it's re-healing because the issue comes and goes, and when it's gone it feels better than it ever did before.

whatever is going on for you, i do hope you find a solution quickly

Quoted from brinyskysail

I wish I knew if the mucus is a bad thing or a "cleansing" thing.

That's what I wondered.  If it isn't otherwise causing problems, it's probably harmless and could even be a good sign.  The mucus in your gut is protective, and it may mean your gut is healing and protecting itself again.  Ghee is good for gut healing after all!

PC, what was that thread where we were talking about lactose and mucus?  

The gist was that (gal)lactose causes mucus build-up.  The lactose mucus is not the same as the mucus naturally produced by our mucus membranes, and it needs to be gotten out.  Flushing that gunk out could be a sort of healing crisis.

Quoted from zenphoenix

i remember a number of years ago i was at a seminar that talked about when the body gets the right tools to start healing itself. One of the "symptoms" of healing is that your body will "revisit" past problems (injuries, serious illnesses, etc). Once the body has the tools to properly repair something, it will go back and resurrect the problem - almost to the extreme. But once it's done, it's healed and that problem won't (or shouldn't) recur.

I have seen this happen with others, and i am currently going thru it myself. I  cracked some ribs about 15 or 16 years ago... not fun. But i was living as a vegan at the time and i never thought it healed up quite right. Since switching to swami... i have been having a terrible time with those ribs... but i know that it's re-healing because the issue comes and goes, and when it's gone it feels better than it ever did before.

I agree with this experience. I am terrific ghee eater: everyday one tablespoonfull with rice. Unless, the ghee is "not fully" ghee, it could be symtom of healing or you could try reducing the amount by half or so and see.
whatever is going on for you, i do hope you find a solution quickly

zenpheonix, I totally agree about revisiting the past during healing.  I'm not entirely sure how the mucus would be in involved in that, but my digestive system has been through a lot so it wouldn't surprise me if the mucus is a result of healing.

TJ, I'm lactose intolerant and haven't consumed lactose since I was in 5th grade, but I've still been eating dairy so that would include galactose; as a type A, that could be a problem and could very well be involved in what my body is flushing out.  As for it being harmless, if it is truly a healing crisis, I'd think it would be harmless, but it is usually quite a bit of mucus and is very difficult to pass so that makes it annoying.

Since ghee is supposed to be so healing for the digestive tract (and the stuff I'm using doesn't contain any lactose, casein, or additives), I wouldn't think that it shouldn't be causing any harm.  This has always happened with ghee and still has not subsided, but, as I said, my digestive system has been through a lot so maybe it's just going to take a lot more ghee and a lot more time until I've healed enough for the mucus to stop.  If I knew for sure that that was the case, I'd be putting ghee on everything

Brinsky - what dairy are you eating that does not have lactose in it?

perhaps you should stop that rather than the ghee.

also if it's skimmed or reduced in fat in any way the galactose gets concentrated (something like that)

anything in mass becomes addictive and that is rarely if ever good.

keep experimenting - you sus it out oxo

Quoted from policychecker

Brinsky - what dairy are you eating that does not have lactose in it?

Now I don't eat much dairy at all, just some kefir, but until a few months ago I was still eating a lot of lactose-free cheeses (only swami diamond cheeses) and between summer 2010 and spring 2011 I craved milk and drank a lot of lactaid.  that was when I still weighed less than 90 pounds so I had trouble denying myself any kind of food when I wanted it.  it definitely wasn't good for my digestion, though, so I eventually made myself stop drinking it.  I had had something entered wring in swami, and my food lists didn't make any sense to me.  it wasn't until this past spring that I got things worked out and really started being compliant.  I agree that avoiding other dairy is a better idea than avoiding ghee.  life is a never-ending experiment.