Black tongue

[tyson oberle]

I recently started to eat just sunflower greens by itself for breakfast sometimes and noticed that my tongue gets very black after and it lasts for a few days. My back teeth also get a little black. At first I thought maybe it was just dark green from the sunflower greens, but on careful inspection it always looked pitch black to me. And anyway, sunflower greens aren't even a real dark green and definitely not as dark as my tongue gets. I researched this on the internet and found that a black tongue can be caused from a bacterial/ fungus overgrowth or a chemical called bismuth reacting with sulfur in my saliva or gastrointestinal tract. If it were a bacterial or fungal overgrowth I would think that my tongue would always be black, but I haven't noticed it happen with other foods. Bismuth is in pepto bismol and so I bought some to see if it would cause my tongue to get black from any possible sulfur in my saliva or tongue. I put some pepto bismul in my mouth and swished it around and held it a few minutes and then spit it out. My tongue did not turn black. So I guess when I get a black tongue from sunflower greens it can't be because of sulfur in my saliva or tongue. Next time I might try swallowing the pepto bismol to see if that would make a difference. I called the company that sells the sunflower greens and they never heard of anyone getting a black tongue. They told me that maybe I am having an immune system reaction. I don't know, it seems like a plausible theory because later I also found information on the internet that black tongue may be associated with a compromised immune system. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Stretched]

FWIW, my tongue occasionally used to be black in the morning after taking Pepto Bismol the night before!
Dr. didn't know about it but there was definitely a correlation for me - proved out on subsequent occasions.

 

[Me!]

I, too, ate sunflower sprouts for breakfast without anything else and it coated my tongue and mouth too. I just think it's due to staining. I went on the internet, the source of all knowledge, to find out if this was happening to other people too and if there's some good reason. I used a tongue scrapper and it didn't do much. I'm not concerned though, just staining...

 

[tyson oberle]

I still often eat sunflower sprouts/greens by itself for breakfast and my teeth and tongue definitely don't get black as before, but they still do get stained. I'm glad I'm not the only one, but when I called the people I buy sunflower greens from they said that none of them there (4 people) get a black tongue and black teeth. They also said that they never heard of anyone getting the black staining. Maybe they don't eat as much as I do and maybe they do get some staining, I don't know? Anyway as I said before, my teeth and tongue don't get black like before.