Training & Nutrition - Metallic, furry taste in mouth after workout?

What is that furry, metallic taste in my mouth after hard workouts?

I seem to remember someone saying that it was due to the presence of lactic acid buildup during anaerobic respiration, and the taste was the body trying to expel the excess lactic acid. That seems to make sense to me. But some friends this weekend said that they thought that it could be that i'm burning muscle. So that got me curious enough to ask you guys.

Any ideas?

I searched the forums for "metallic taste mouth" and came up with this link:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=77721&highlight=metallic+taste+mouth
which never seemed to answer the question.

Thanks!

What is that furry, metallic taste in my mouth after hard workouts?

I seem to remember someone saying that it was due to the presence of lactic acid buildup during anaerobic respiration, and the taste was the body trying to expel the excess lactic acid. That seems to make sense to me. But some friends this weekend said that they thought that it could be that i'm burning muscle. So that got me curious enough to ask you guys.

Any ideas?

I searched the forums for "metallic taste mouth" and came up with this link:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=77721&highlight=metallic+taste+mouth
which never seemed to answer the question.

Thanks!

My first thought would be that a cyborg flying squirrel got caught in the mouth as you were riding. But other than that I'm sorry not sure. :(

Bugs. Furry bugs. Big furry bugs.

I occasionally experience the same thing, but only when I:
a. have left water in my bottle overnight (The chlorine seeps from the plastic, making my teeth feel like I've been chewing on aluminum foil).
b. drink orange flavored gatorade.

Quit using Gatorade or other similar products with lots of simple sugars in them. Bleck!! If you ride long distances and use that stuff all the way through, you'll end up with horrible mouth sores.

Metallic taste in your mouth is usually an indication of excess cations from groups 1 and 2 on the periodic table. Sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and occasionally barium (quite toxic). Simple sugars are responsible for the "furry", "fuzzy" feeling. Some meds can do it as well, but I'm not a doctor.

When was the last time you saw a dentist?

Any other symptoms? like cramps, swelling of the feet, or a lot of foam when you take a piss?

Bugs. Furry bugs. Big furry bugs.

Big furry robot bugs. =/

When was the last time you saw a dentist?

Any other symptoms? like cramps, swelling of the feet, or a lot of foam when you take a piss?


No, i don't have any other symptoms, but it only happens after hard workouts, so sometimes my muscles are a bit tight afterward. And i am orally hygenic, btw, so it's not my mouth! I change the water in my bottles before i ride, and i use filtered water, too, so it's not the water. I don't use Gatorade or anything else in my water, either. I never chew on the bugs, so i doubt it has anything to do with them! The presence of "excess Na and Ca" does not seem likely to me either, since you loose so much of those cations while sweating.

I'm suprised that nobody has figured this out...

Anyway, thanks for your help!

It's probably just lactic acid. Not sure I'd describe it as metallic, but it definitely has a pretty distinct taste.

Have you ever slammed on your brakes while driving? Did you get that metallic taste in your mouth then? My theory is that it's not necessarily a direct sport or lactic acid reasoning. I remember being told at one time that this was adrenaline being released. I did a quick internet check and found, "I managed to find one anecdotal reference to adrenaline causing a metallic taste. It is also mentioned in a medical journal in association with toxicity due to lidocaine w/epinephrine [adrenaline], but it wasn't clear which was the cause. It is a close match to what I was thinking, and since the two drugs are apparently always given together, it seems a bit coincidental that I would be wrong about this. Still, I didn't find anything stating explicitly what I was expecting - that large releases of adrenaline can cause a metallic taste in one's mouth." The link is at http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-61806.html

More food for thought....do ideas have taste? ;p

if you have a tinny taste in your mouth it could be electrolytes...you might be dehydrated and need to restore your electrolyte balance.

if you have a tinny taste in your mouth it could be electrolytes...you might be dehydrated and need to restore your electrolyte balance.

If I'm dehydrated I get something similar, except it's a metallic smell.

or a lot of foam when you take a piss?

There is something very very very wrong with this statement makes my pee pee hurt for some reason