Well...I had been an ovo-lacto vegetarian since the 70's and gradually became a vegan in the past twenty years. But guess what? The amount of food that one must eat to be a healthy vegan, completely goes against my own experience with bronchiectasis. Whole grains and beans, nuts and seeds eaten in the quantities one must eat them to be healthy created so much mucus in my system once BE set in that I started having hemoptysis on a regular basis. Now I can only eat soups if I want to avoid these episodes, and my weight declined dramatically b/c of the smaller quantities of food that my lungs could tolerate. Now I have to put bone broth in my soups in order to get the 70 grams of protein I need, and I eat sardines maybe once a week, and no dairy. Salmon occasionally too for the protein hit. I know a TON about vegan nutrition--followed the Food Revolution Network for a few years and still get their daily email, which is full of great information. But one has to eat A LOT to be a healthy vegan and my lungs no longer can tolerate it. A strange case, I know. But I have documented every last thing I eat and the quantity and this is irrefutable. I am very sad that I have not found the way to revert to my vegan diet. Maybe something will change.

I'm also curious to know whether fresh produce carries MAC and what one should do to minimize the load of that. I eat a ton of pureed organic greens and vegetables: dandelion greens, collard, kale, bok choy, broccoli rabe, rutabaga, parsnips, etc. --all coming from my local farmers in northern california--do you know about any preparation and washing tips? I only steam the vegetables before I puree them for my soups, so wonder if MAC from the dirt can be lurking on the vegetables themselves. Thanks for any insights you may have.