Is a strange taste in your mouth leaving you with a proverbial “bad taste” as well? Persistent and unexplained taste sensations can’t just be rather distracting and annoying, they even, sometimes, point to medical conditions. SteadyHealth readers have asked what might cause tastes ranging from buttery to bitter, from salty to sour, and from metallic to simply maddening.
Buttery taste in the mouth: Why?
A buttery taste in the mouth isn’t among the most common persistent unexplained tastes people experience, but we’ll tackle it first because it’s something we’ve been asked about and because it’s still a bit of a mystery. While we cannot offer you answers about the exact causes of your buttery taste, it appears to be a variation on the more commonly experienced metallic taste.
Many people who report a persistent buttery taste in their mouths without recently having eaten butter, our informal online research reveals, report that they just started a diet, keto diets seem to be particularly likely to induce this taste. Other possibilities would include a metabolic disorder, or, if you are taking any medications, a buttery taste can sometimes be a side effect. Another option to explore if you suffer from a strange buttery taste for no apparent reason is that you have tooth decay or a bad filling under which food is becoming lodged.
What can cause a bitter taste in your mouth?
A bitter taste can be caused by a wide variety of different things, ranging from a viral hepatitis infection to pregnancy and medications including contraceptives, antiretrovirals for HIV, and even antidepressants. Occupational exposure to toxins like those found in toners or ammonia also leave you with a bitter taste, but even some food items — like certain kinds of pine nuts — can induce a lingering bitter taste that stays with you for many days. In some cases, people with acute viral conditions like influenza or fungal infections like oral thrush also report a bitter taste in their mouths.
Why might you have a salty taste in your mouth?
If your salty taste is starting to leave you feeling, well, salty, it might help to know that chronic low-level dehydration or problems with salivary flow can cause this unusual taste. Blood can be interpreted as a salty taste or a metallic one, so in this case, you will also want to consider the possibility that you are tasting blood. In most cases, oral conditions such as gum disease will explain that. The mucus you produce also has a distinctly salty flavor, making conditions such as sinusitis or post-nasal drip suspects as well.
People who are taking prescription medications should check whether they are known to induce a salty or other unusual taste as a side effect, and people routinely exposed to ammonia should be aware that ammonia toxicity can likewise produce this taste.
Metallic tastes and their varying causes
Metallic tastes in the mouth are among the most common lingering bad tastes people can experience — and very often, the cause can be traced back to a medication you are taking. Many different medications count a metallic taste in the mouth as a possible side effect, including antibiotics, antihistamines you might take for allergies, and many different kinds of chemotherapy.
Your medicine cabinet is the first place to look if you’re dealing with a metallic case, then, but supplements can also be the cause, and iron and zinc supplements in particular are well-known to have the ability to induce this foul taste, especially if you are taking excessive doses. Calcium can have the same effect. Once again, though, dental disasters, including old amalgam fillings that have been crumbling, can also be to blame, along with exposure to heavy metals such as lead.
What about a generic, unidentifiable bad, taste in your mouth?
Ultimately, the ways in which we interpret unusual or foul odors in our mouths will vary — if the taste is non-specific enough, one person may think it’s salty, while another experiences a buttery taste or a metallic one.
Very generally speaking, bad tastes not associated with anything you know to be in your environment can be caused by nearly anything, and common culprits include:
- Bacterial, viral, or fungal infections.
- Side effects of medications.
- Oral health problems, including tooth decay, gingivitis, and periodontal disease, but also simply bad oral hygiene.
- Exposure to environmental or occupational toxins.
- Hormonal changes, including those associated with pregnancy and menopause.
- Certain foods.
- Nutritional deficiencies, or on the other hand exposure to overdoses of nutritional supplements.
It’s also important to note that infections, including COVID-19, often lead to a loss of taste or smell, or a reduction in these senses. The same is true for smokers. In these cases, the olfactory system is blunted, and you may only experience stronger tastes, including exactly those that we discussed.