10 main causes of bitterness in the mouth, what to do?

Bitterness in the mouth, which usually occurs in the morning, often appears in people over 40 years old. The reason for its occurrence can be, as age-related changes in taste buds, inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, chronic diseases of internal organs.

If bitterness in the mouth appears regularly and does not go away for a long time, this can be a dangerous symptom. This is how diseases of the digestive tract, gallbladder, liver, bile ducts manifest themselves. What causes bitterness in the mouth and how to react to its appearance?

Bitterness in the mouth – what does it mean?

Bitterness in the mouth may occur spontaneously, or it may be constantly present for some time. So, with intoxication of the body or endocrine pathologies, the bitterness in the mouth does not go away for a long time, and the bitter taste that appears due to a violation of the digestive processes occurs immediately after eating and disappears after a while.

What does bitterness in the mouth mean?

Causes of bitterness in the mouth

• Violations of the liver, gallbladder and its ducts. Bitterness in the mouth can signal pathologies of the liver, in which it is difficult for it to perform its functions. The liver cells produce bile, from there it goes to the gallbladder and is transported to the intestines as needed. Violations at any of these stages can lead to stagnation of bile and its release into the esophagus, which causes a bitter taste in the mouth. Usually, pathology is indicated not only by bitterness, but also by a number of other symptoms – a yellowish skin tone, the formation of a dense yellow coating on the tongue, dark or colored urine, a metallic taste in the mouth.

• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. There are a number of diseases of the digestive tract, which are characterized by the appearance of bitterness in the mouth. These include gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastric dyspepsia, colitis, enteritis, gastritis, and ulcers. A bitter taste in the mouth appears along with a feeling of heaviness of the stomach and heartburn after eating with dyspeptic disorders, in addition, symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, flatulence can be added.

  There are 2 main violations here:

  1. For gastroesophageal reflux disease the stomach loses its ability to cleanse itself, through the lower esophageal valve, the contents of the stomach or intestines can enter the esophagus, causing an unpleasant taste of acid or bitterness in the mouth. Other symptoms of the disease include nausea, bloating, heartburn, and chest pain, as well as coughing and shortness of breath that occur when lying down. To alleviate the patient’s condition, it is recommended to adjust the diet, remove chocolate, citrus fruits, smoked meats and fatty foods from the diet, eat in small portions, give up alcohol and immediately after eating do not take a horizontal position, during which the symptoms of heartburn worsen.

  2. Dyspepsia of the stomach – indigestion caused by hypersecretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, impaired motility or other causes. Most often it manifests itself as a feeling of heaviness and fullness of the stomach even after a small amount of food, nausea, bloating and a feeling of bitterness in the mouth in the morning. It can be exacerbated by stressful conditions of the body, as well as after taking certain medications. Fibrogastroscopic examination (FGS) allows you to detect pathologies of the digestive tract and correctly draw up a treatment regimen, with the successful implementation of which all unpleasant symptoms disappear.

• Parasitic invasion of the body. Parasites that live in the intestines destroy its mucosa and cause many pathologies of the digestive tract. So, Giardia – the simplest flagellated parasites that live in the small intestine – attaching to its walls, injure the mucous membrane, causing irritation and disruption of the digestive processes. They destroy the glycocalyx and block the absorption of nutrients by the intestinal villi, which disrupts the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates, and symptoms of beriberi may appear even with a balanced and vitamin-rich diet. Giardia metabolism products cause allergic reactions, can provoke an increased sensitivity of the body to substances that were not recognized as allergens before. If the bitterness in the mouth is caused by the activity of parasites, then cleansing the body is the best way to treat it. Traditional medicine suggests using tansy and wormwood to remove parasites.

• Diseases of the oral cavity. If bitterness in the mouth appears after dental procedures or is accompanied by toothache, then most likely it is caused by diseases of the teeth, periodontal tissues and gums. A bitter taste can be caused by a poor-quality filling or crown, an allergic reaction to materials for dental prosthetics, as well as a disorder of receptors due to a violation of the innervation of the tongue or the reproduction of pathogenic microflora in the oral cavity. Mechanical damage to the oral mucosa, periodontitis, gingivitis, stomatitis and periodontal disease may be accompanied by a taste of bitterness in the mouth, for its treatment, you should consult a dentist in a timely manner.

• Hormonal disorders. Functional disorders of the thyroid gland lead to increased or decreased secretion of thyroid hormones, causing a state of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. This may increase the amount of adrenaline, norepinephrine, which leads to spasm of the bile ducts. Stagnation of bile that occurs as a result of biliary dyskinesia can cause a bitter taste in the mouth. Therefore, in this case, treatment is impossible without normalizing the patient’s hormonal balance.

Another disease of the endocrine system, among the symptoms of which there is bitterness in the mouth, is diabetes mellitus. The feeling of bitterness appears along with a number of other symptoms – a short-term blurred vision, sweating, a feeling of heat in the feet and hands with an increase in blood sugar.

Bitterness in the mouth after pine nuts

After eating pine nuts, bitterness in the mouth can also appear in a completely healthy person. Usually this phenomenon is mistakenly attributed to the choleretic properties of the product, but there can be no such reaction to high-quality pine nuts. Meanwhile, bitterness in the mouth appears immediately after eating and lasts for several days, sometimes other symptoms of intoxication may appear – nausea and pain in the liver. All this clearly indicates that pine nuts were artificially grown and imported from China. Many suppliers give out Chinese nuts for domestic products, since they are cheaper to purchase. But there are many reasons why it is better to refuse such a food product.

Why You Shouldn’t Eat Pine Nuts From China:

• During production nuts are treated with pesticides and other chemicals that can cause intoxication, severe poisoning and allergic reactions; in Belarus and most European countries, the import of such nuts is prohibited.

• Shelf life in pine nuts it is small, since the fats that make up their composition are quickly oxidized and rancid. It is 12 months for unshelled nuts and six months for vacuum-packed peeled nuts. Since the process of transportation from China, storage in a warehouse and sale can be delayed, expired nuts often end up on the table. Such a product does not have useful properties and good taste, and can even harm health.

• Storage conditions when delivering nuts from China, they cannot be observed with all strictness – the product must be stored in a dry place with a humidity of not more than 70% at a certain temperature, and not be near substances that emit strong odors. Otherwise, the shelf life is reduced, and if you eat expired nuts, there is a risk of liver and gallbladder diseases.

What to do if there is bitterness in the mouth after pine nuts:

• Drink as much liquid as possible is a universal advice for all cases of food poisoning. Water will remove toxic substances from the body, alleviate the symptoms of intoxication, although the bitterness in the mouth may increase in the first minutes.

• From medicines it is recommended to take sorbents – Smecta, Enterosgel, Polyphepan, but it is better to refuse choleretic drugs, they are ineffective in this case.

• If, despite all the actions taken, the bitterness in the mouth does not go away, consult a doctor – low-quality nuts could exacerbate chronic diseases of the digestive tract.

Answers to popular questions

• Can bitterness in the mouth occur after taking antibiotics? After taking antibiotics, a bitter taste in the mouth may also appear, which soon passes. Any drugs that affect the liver can cause pain and bitterness in the mouth, even in the absence of chronic diseases. In this case, the bitter taste is associated precisely with disorders in the liver, and requires appropriate treatment. An allergic reaction to medications, which can also be manifested by bitterness in the mouth, is not excluded. Antihistamines, antifungal drugs, as well as medicinal herbs (St. John’s wort, sea buckthorn, hogweed) are often the cause of bitterness in the mouth. Any medicine that disrupts the balance of microflora in the mouth can cause plaque, an unpleasant odor, bitterness and a metallic taste.

• Why in the morning there is bitterness in the mouth? Bitterness in the mouth in the morning can be caused by the release of bile into the esophagus, which happens with gastroesophageal reflux disease, and can also be a sign that the liver is not doing its job. It is difficult to determine liver disease at an early stage, since it only hurts when the pathological process has gone far, but at home you can conduct a small experiment. Eat 100-200 grams of beets in a salad or fresh and drink a glass of water or green tea. If the urine then acquires a red tint, this is a sure sign of a functional disorder of the liver, in which it is necessary to consult a doctor.

• Why does bitterness occur in the mouth after eating? Bitterness can occur after fatty foods and overeating. This symptom is present in people with diseases of the gallbladder and its ducts, with diseases of the liver. In addition, bitterness in the mouth often occurs in pregnant women, which is not associated with diseases, but manifests itself with an increased level of progesterone (the valve that separates the contents of the stomach weakens, which may cause a taste of bile and acid in the mouth). In late pregnancy, bitterness in the mouth in pregnant women occurs due to fetal pressure on the stomach and gallbladder. Bitterness in the mouth appears briefly after certain medications, and can also occur with dyspeptic disorders and against the background of stress.

• It hurts the right side and bitterness in the mouth – what does this mean? Pain in the right side can be a symptom of cholecystitis, and in combination with a bitter taste in the mouth, it can mean an exacerbation of liver disease. At the same time, the absence of yellowness of the skin, pain in the liver and other symptoms does not always mean that the liver is healthy – pain impulses come with an increase in the liver, which occurs in the later stages of the disease. Heaviness in the right side, the sensation of which is aggravated after physical exertion, accompanied by bitterness in the mouth, can occur with liver diseases.

Plaque on the tongue with bitterness in the mouth

A yellow coating on the tongue, accompanied by a taste of bitterness in the mouth, can be a sign of biliary tract disease, inflammation of the liver, exacerbation of cholecystitis, gastritis, peptic ulcer. White coating on the tongue and bitterness in the mouth may appear during dental diseases or after dental treatment as a result of an allergic reaction to materials for prosthetics or drugs, as well as a sign of a violation of the microflora of the oral cavity.

Pay attention to the surface of your tongue – its appearance can give information about the state of the body. In Ayurveda, according to different areas of the tongue, conclusions can be drawn about the health of various human organs and systems. So, the root of the tongue, according to Ayurvedic teaching, corresponds to the intestines, its upper third reflects the state of the cardiovascular system and liver, and the middle shows how healthy the pancreas is.

What does plaque on the tongue look like with pathologies of internal organs?

• White coating, which is easily brushed off with a toothbrush, the tongue under it is light pink, sensitivity is normal – there is a lot of sweet food in the diet, which promotes the growth of bacteria. However, in general, the state of the body is satisfactory.

• Dense layer of gray-white plaque, which is not peeled off, a feeling of bitterness in the mouth and an unpleasant odor, while the tip of the tongue and its lateral parts are clean – heartburn, peptic ulcer, gastritis, dyspeptic disorders.

• White patches with red spots or “geographical” tongue – in the areas of red spots, the epithelium is absent, and the taste buds are deformed, the person is worried about the feeling of dryness and burning in the mouth, impaired taste perception. This may be a sign of serious diseases of the internal organs, a weakened immune system, or a hereditary abnormality.

• Thick white coating, is peeled off with difficulty, exposing the wound surface – thrush or fungal infection, microflora disturbances due to neglect of hygiene rules or weakened immunity.

• White or grayish coating lies in a dense layer at the base of the tongue, does not peel off, there may be a bitter taste in the mouth, an unpleasant odor – a sign of peptic ulcer or the accumulation of toxins in the intestines.

• Spotted white or yellow patches, through which taste buds that have grown in size are visible – a sign of chronic gastritis. Among the accompanying symptoms are bitterness in the mouth, heaviness in the stomach, bloating, belching.

• Yellow coating, greenish tint possible, in the mouth, a feeling of bitterness, which intensifies after eating fatty foods – pathologies of the bile duct, gallbladder or inflammatory processes in the liver, requiring immediate medical attention.

• brown plaque, localized at the root of the tongue – often found in smokers due to staining of the epithelium with resins, it can also occur with iron deficiency or severe intestinal intoxication.

• With anemia, plaque on the tongue may not be, or it has a very pale tint.

What to do if there is bitterness in the mouth

Bitterness in the mouth does not appear for no reason and is a signal of pathology that cannot be ignored. Treatment is not necessary only if it is reliably known that smoking is the cause of the bitter taste in the mouth, or bitterness occurs in pregnant women. In this case, you need to adjust the diet or limit bad habits.

Due to the fact that the causes of bitterness in the mouth can be very diverse – smoking, disorders of the endocrine, nervous, digestive systems, treatment should be carried out only after examination by doctors. After visiting the gastroenterologist, endocrinologist and other specialists to whom the therapist refers the patient, appropriate measures are taken.

How to remove bitterness in the mouth, the cause of which is not determined?

If the cause of bitterness in the mouth is not determined, then it is recommended:

• Refusal or restriction of smoking – if bitterness is caused by violations of taste buds due to constant exposure to tobacco smoke;

• Frequent meals in small portions – effective for women in late pregnancy, in whom bitterness is caused by fetal pressure on the digestive organs;

• Detoxification of the body and cleansing the intestines with the help of sorbents – helps with bitterness caused by food poisoning;

• Taking probiotic preparations in order to normalize the microflora, cleansing from parasites is an effective method if bitterness is caused by parasitic invasion, as is the case with giardiasis;

• Normalization of sleep and rest, exclusion of stress factors, playing sports and walking in the fresh air – if bitterness accompanies neurological pathologies and mental disorders;

• A diet that excludes fatty and heavy foods, as well as spices, spicy, smoked foods – helps if a bitter taste in the mouth appears due to indigestion.

Bitterness in the mouth cannot be removed with the help of drugs, since this is not a disease, but just one of the symptoms of body disorders, each of which requires an individual approach to treatment.