What Causes a Bitter Taste in the Mouth? Reasons Behind It
1. Psychological Bitterness - Modern work and life pressures, long-term mental stress, irregular lifestyles, insufficient sleep and rest, lack of exercise, etc., can cause a bitter taste in the mouth. Excessive smoking, alcoholism, snoring, sleeping with the mouth open, etc., can also easily lead to dryness and bitterness in the mouth.
2. Stomatitis - Some causes are not related to stress but to oral diseases. For example, suffering from gingivitis and gum bleeding can make you feel a bitter taste in your mouth, and even swallowing saliva feels bitter. To improve this, you need to first treat the oral disease.
3. Stomach Heat and Bitterness - Esophagitis, chronic gastritis, poor gastric motility, bile reflux, and symptoms such as heartburn may also cause a bitter taste in the mouth. Improper diet, sluggish gastrointestinal function, and prolonged retention of food in the stomach and intestines can easily produce damp-heat, causing bitterness in the mouth. Eating too many spicy foods can also cause bitterness in the mouth.
4. Certain Chronic Diseases - Diabetes is often accompanied by a bitter taste in the mouth. Additionally, cancer patients may feel a bitter taste in their mouths due to an increased sweet threshold and a decreased bitter threshold, and should be vigilant. Chronic diseases like these can cause long-term bitterness in the mouth, which will only disappear when the disease is fully cured. Therefore, in daily life, it is important to eat foods that alleviate the bitter taste and not rely solely on medical treatment.
5. Liver and Gallbladder Diseases - A bitter taste in the mouth in the morning is mostly caused by damp-heat. Damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder can cause a bitter taste, possibly due to inflammation in these areas. When the liver or gallbladder is inflamed, abnormal bile excretion leads to a bitter taste in the mouth.
1. Exogenous Wind-Cold - Exogenous wind-cold pathogens transform into heat and enter the Shao Yang Gallbladder Meridian, often causing symptoms such as a bitter taste in the mouth. The Treatise on Cold Damage states, "The disease of Shao Yang is characterized by a bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizziness, vexation, and a tendency to vomit."
2. Diet - Irregular eating habits and vigorous exercise after eating can cause a bitter taste in the mouth. This is due to food staying in the stomach and intestines for too long without digestion, leading to the production of damp-heat and causing a bitter taste in the mouth. At the same time, there may also be symptoms such as yellow and greasy tongue coating, abdominal distension and pain, and yellow urine.
3. Damp-Heat in the Liver and Gallbladder - A bitter taste in the mouth caused by stagnant heat or liver heat moving to the gallbladder and gallbladder qi rising inversely. Damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder may be due to inflammation in these areas, especially in patients with cholecystitis and gallstones. Poor gallbladder function and abnormal bile excretion can produce a bitter taste in the mouth. People with liver and gallbladder diseases may also experience headaches, dizziness, red and swollen faces, irritability, dry and hard stools, and red tongue.
4. Bitterness Caused by Heart Fire - This type of bitterness is caused by anxiety, impatience, staying up late, which leads to indigestion and poor bile excretion. It is often accompanied by symptoms such as red face, headache, red eyes, and yellow urine. Psychological bitterness is also common. Some people may experience a bitter taste in their mouths due to excessive work or study pressure, anger, irritability, anxiety, fear, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
5. Disease - Some chronic disease patients, such as diabetics and some cancer patients, often feel a bitter taste in their mouths and should be vigilant. People with irregular living habits and insufficient sleep often have a bitter taste in their mouths when they wake up in the morning.
