BINGO, another pregnancy bug. This time we talk about the change in taste. Of course, it's well known that hormones are coursing through your body and your body is having a reaction to them. The hormonal shift also affects your taste buds. Many pregnant women experience a strange taste in their mouths, similar to metal. Read on quickly to find out what you can do about this.
Cause of taste change
Early in your pregnancy, you may experience a crazy taste in your mouth. Many women describe this as a metallic taste. This is due to the hormonal shifts in your body. Those damn hormones always do (Maternity Care South Gelderland, 2021)! In particular, estrogen reacts to the taste buds and controls the taste. The medical term for this ailment is dysgeusia (Tombouctou, 2021).
What can you do about this?
Unfortunately, you can't prevent the taste change, but we can give you tips on how to overcome this unpleasant ailment (as best as we can). You can try brushing your teeth more often and rinsing them afterwards with a mild saline solution or baking soda, which neutralizes the pH levels in the mouth and can suppress the sharp taste. Acidic foods and drinks help with the taste change. Because acid triggers saliva production, it helps wash away the taste. So from now on, add a lemon to your water or tea or suck on a lemon soda. Make sure you drink enough in a day. As you swallow more, the bad saliva will disappear from your mouth. Finally, you can try using plastic plates and cutlery, this reduces the taste of metal (Oral-B, s.d.).
How long does the flavor change last?
This is different in every woman. As with morning sickness, for example, dysgeusia should diminish or even disappear completely in the second trimester of your pregnancy. But this only happens when the hormones calm down and get off the rollercoaster. Is this not happening? Then the taste change disappears after the baby is born (Tombouctou, 2021).
After writing all the blogs about pregnancy ailments - like ligament pain Whether the Carpal tunnel syndrome - and we can agree that pregnant women have to deal with a lot of hassles. With some it's less than with others, but often you can't escape it. Of course, it's all for a good cause and you'll probably have forgotten about it after giving birth. But that doesn't mean you can't find it annoying or resent it, because we completely understand that. With our blogs we want to help and guide pregnant women to get through their pregnancy as comfortably as possible!
Sources:
Maternity Care South Gelderland. (2021, February 1). Pregnancy Symptoms. Accessed December 27, 2021, from https://www.kraamzorgzuidgelderland.nl/zwangerschap/zwangerschapssymptomen-de-eerste-symptomen-van-je-zwangerschap/
Oral-B. (s.d.). Learn more about teeth and pregnancy. Accessed December 27, 2021, from https://www.oralb.nl/nl-nl/mondhygiene/levensfasen/zwangerschap/ontdek-meer-over-tanden-en-zwangerschap
Tombouctou. (2021, January 21). metallic taste during pregnancy (Dysgeusia). Accessed December 27, 2021, from https://tombouctou-food.com/nl/metaalachtige-smaak-tijdens-de-zwangerschap-dysgeusie/