So, for three days now my husband has been complaining about a bitter taste in his mouth after eating. Nothing tastes good. His mouth tastes like metal. He didn't enjoy his favorite lunch at work.
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The first day, I wrote is off as a weird passing thing- maybe some kind of dental issue. The second day, I started to become a bit concerned. And finally, last night, after dinner was mechanically choked down with a few grimaces, I did what any caring wife would do. I turned to google.
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After typing in "bitter metallic taste after eating", I was able to diagnose my hubs right away. But, it is the STRANGEST thing... he apparently has a case of "pine mouth" brought on by ingesting pine nuts! We got most of our info from this blog post made by a fellow sufferer. We were blown away by the fact that this one blog post got 1,500 comments- so many that the blogger had to finally shut down the comment functionality on that post.
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It remains somewhat of a medical mystery, and there are different theories about whether it is an allergic reaction to a particular nut, or a reaction to an oxidized nut. He has eaten many pine nuts in his life and NEVER experienced this phenomenon. I even ate some of the nuts from this same bag and did not experience any symptoms, though I definitely didn't eat as many as he did.
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In any case, it's a relatively harmless condition that goes away in time- it's just really bothersome in the meantime. At least it isn't frightening now that we know what it is. He reports that it's a bit better today, and he thinks that having a spicy dinner tonight will be the best course of action. A reminder for all of us~ don't take those tastebuds for granted!
Your poor husband! I had actually read about this a few weeks ago, and I remember thinking how interesting and terrible it was. At least it's temporary. Poor guy. It really makes you appreciate what you have. I hope his sense of taste comes back soon.
ReplyDeleteOH how weird!
ReplyDeleteI love using google for those random off the wall searches/questions.
Mystery Solved...pine mouth...go figure! Thank heaven for google! Well, I guess we know pine nuts are off the menu at your house! I think the fact that he has just recently become allergic or whatever leads me to believe that it's something that has changed in his system. I've heard that your entire system changes every 7 years and that it starts changing a couple years before so maybe that accounts for some changes? In any case, so happy your case is solved...good work! You not only crochet some mighty fine items...you're a sleuth as well...charming!!! Hope Mr. Metal Mouth gets his regular taste buds back soon!!
ReplyDeleteHuh. That really is very interesting. I bet you're husband is a bit disturbed by this; I know I would be. As little as I am, I enjoy food and would be so annoyed if all my favorites just didn't taste the same.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I use pine nuts quite often here. I love them in my salads, toasted with spinach, brocolli, and asparagus. I suppose you won't be using them for quite some time. I hope he is feeling back to normal real soon!
I have never even heard of pine nuts.
ReplyDeletePD
Goodness me Jennie. Have just popped over and read that blog post. How interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnother point to remember is that nuts can and do go rancid quickly (not a lot of people know this). This is because of all the the natural oils in them.
So they could have been '0ff', and you wouldn't even know it :(
I do hope you had a spicy night last night, and it's all cleared up now.
Have a great week Jennie. xxOOxx
Eerrm, I just read my post back, and I do mean a nice spicy dinner.....
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