Getting a metallic taste in your mouth? You might be having health problems

Mouth related problems, especially taste, can make a difference in our life because a lot depends on the food we consume and how tasty it proves to be. Taste stimulates the desire to eat and also elevates good mood in an individual. The sensation of good taste in our mouth makes us healthy and also helps to detect spoilt food. 

Losing our feeling of taste also affects our health. When taste is impaired, our eating habits go through a change preferably by adding extra sugar or salt to make food taste better. 

The metallic taste indicates serious ailments starting from kidney or liver problems, undiagnosed diabetes or certain cancers. However, these are not common reasons and are not accompanied by other symptoms.

However, there is no homemade cure for someone with taste issues and some develop it after acquiring an injury or illness. Amongst the injuries, head injury and exposure to the harsh chemical could be the reasons. 

Try preparing food with a mix of different colours and textures, make it aromatic too with spices and flavours. It helps. Consult a specialist or a nutritionist if the problem is recurring. 

Many drugs and prescriptions also cause the metallic taste.

Keeping mouth dry is also a reason for the affect, try keeping yourself hydrated and chewing sugarless chewing gums

Medical and dental infections also causes the iron taste, particular sinus and middle ear infections. 

However, we have preventive measures. Brushing with a good quality toothbrush two time a day and also floss once daily. If, by any chance, if smoking is your habit, quit it immediately keeping your health and taste buds in mind. Try switching your metal utensils to some other material.

When our hormone levels goes through a different phase, it changes the taste into metallic or iron or like biting coins.

For a healthy person, the blood taste in mouth typically is benign.

• Weak oral hygiene 

If brushing and flossing of teeth are not regular, it can lead to teeth and gum problems like gingivitis, periodontitis and tooth infection.

This is an infection which goes away after proper brushing technique is followed. Usually, a good dental habit helps to keep such issues at bay. A good brush, with good texture and bristles always helps.

• Prescription drugs 

Certain medicines have iron or metallic taste which, when consumed leaves its taste behind in our tongue. More often than not, such tastes tends to have a long term effect because our body takes in the medicine and it comes out via saliva giving us a bad taste. Medicines like antidepressants are a cuprit for ruining the taste in our mouth. However, as the medicine is cut down the taste of our mouth is retrieved back. 

• Over-the-counter vitamins 

Multivitamins with heavy metals (such as copper, zinc or chromium) or cold remedies (such as zinc lozenges) can cause a metallic or iron taste in the mouth which makes the taste buds feel awful and we lose appetite to eat as well. To cope with this lack of taste we try to excess of sugar or salt to our food which is injurious to our health.

Normally, the taste decreases as the body begin to process the vitamins naturally and we are back to out chirpy self again.

• Infections

 Respiratory infections in the upper part, colds and sinusitis change our sense of taste. It is a temporary condition and normally ends when the infection leaves so there is nothing much to worry about.

• Early pregnancy a cause

In the prenatal stage of pregnancy, some women endure a lack of taste. It could be the metallic taste.

If you ever go through the problem of metallic tastes in the mouth, it is best to consult a doctor under such circumstances as it could turn out to be a serious illness which may need expert consultation. 

Also read Are you using the right toothbrush? Find out all you need to know about your toothbrush to maintain oral hygiene

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