One of the side effects of certain cancer treatments like chemotherapy is an unpleasant metallic or chemical taste in the mouth. This disorder is known as dysgeusia or ageusia and can make eating difficult and unenjoyable. Fortunately, there are ways to help minimize or mask this metallic taste during cancer treatment.
Why Cancer Treatments Cause a Metallic Taste
Chemotherapy drugs are powerful medications designed to kill cancer cells. However, these drugs can also damage healthy cells in the process, including the taste bud cells in the mouth. This damage leads to altered taste perceptions, like a persistent metallic or chemical taste.
Radiation therapy to the head and neck area can also irritate taste buds and salivary glands, resulting in a metal mouth. The high oxidative stress caused by radiation leads to damage and altered function of taste receptors.
For cancers like lung cancer, the chemotherapy drugs and radiation treatments directly to the chest can especially affect taste, lung cancer patients often report a severe metal mouth sensation.
Tips to Lessen the Metallic Taste
Here are some tips to help control the bothersome metal mouth sensation during cancer treatment:
1. Focus on Cold or Room-Temperature Foods
Cold foods can help minimize the metallic taste because taste buds are less sensitive to flavors at cooler temperatures. Avoid very hot foods.
2. Eat Cold or Frozen Desserts
Cold items like ice cream, popsicles, frozen yogurt, and shaved ice can coat the mouth with sweetness and block some of the metallic taste.
3. Try Tart or Sour Flavors
Foods with tangy flavors like lemon, lime, vinegar, and tart citrus fruits can stimulate saliva production and override some metallic tastes.
4. Use Plastic Utensils
Avoid metal silverware and cookware, which can make food taste more metallic. Use plastic forks and spoons instead.
5. Stay Hydrated
Drink plenty of fluids each day to help rinse the mouth and dilute any metal taste. Opt for cool water or juices.
6. Avoid Red Meats
Red meats like beef can taste very metallic during cancer treatments. Choose other protein sources like chicken, turkey, fish, or plant-based proteins.
7. Add Seasonings
Flavor foods with aromatic seasonings like garlic, onions, herbs, spices, or flavored oils. But avoid strong flavors like chili pepper.
8. Suck on Sugar-Free Mints or Gum
This can help coat the mouth with a minty or sweet flavor to override metallic tastes temporarily.
9. Rinse with Baking Soda and Salt
Mix 1 tsp each baking soda and salt with 1 cup warm water. Rinse and spit out after meals.
Using Specialized Oral Rinse
Specialized metallic taste oral rinses are available that can help coat the mouth and mask metallic tastes. These rinses typically contain solutions like zinc, bismuth, salivary enzymes, or other ingredients that interact with taste receptors. Some general types of oral rinses that may help with metal mouth include: rinses containing enzymes to stimulate saliva flow, rinses with a mix of viscous analgesics, anesthetics, antifungals, and coating agents, and rinses with zinc which can interact with taste bud receptors.
To use a rinse: swish it around the entire mouth for 30 seconds, coating the tongue, cheeks, gums, and inner lips; use after eating or several times daily as needed; and avoid eating or drinking for 30 minutes after to allow full coating. These special rinses can leave a protective barrier on the oral tissues to obscure metallic tastes between meals or chemotherapy cycles. Talk to your doctor about prescription-strength rinses if over-the-counter options are not providing enough relief from the annoying taste of metal mouth.
Staying hydrated, choosing cold foods, and adding flavor enhancers can go a long way in making meals more palatable during cancer treatment. Speak to your doctor if the metal mouth persists.
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