What causes bitter taste in the mouth and yellow tongue coating? what to do?

Why does your mouth feel bitter? If you occasionally have an unpleasant smell in your mouth, it may be due to a temporary problem with your digestive system. Some people feel bitter in their mouths when they wake up at night or a few moments after getting up in the morning. What is going on?

Causes of bitter mouth

1. It is caused by stagnant heat in the gallbladder meridian or liver heat transferred to the gallbladder, resulting in the upward flow of gallbladder qi. Bitter taste in the mouth caused by damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder is most likely due to inflammation in the liver and gallbladder, especially in patients with cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. Due to poor gallbladder function, abnormal bile secretion causes a bitter taste in the mouth. People with liver and gallbladder diseases not only have a bitter taste in the mouth, but also have symptoms such as headache and dizziness, flushed face and eyes, impatience and irritability, dry and hard stools, and a red tongue.

2. Exogenous wind-cold evil qi turns into heat and enters the Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian, often causing symptoms such as bitter taste in the mouth. The Treatise on Febrile Diseases says that “the symptoms of Shaoyang disease are bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizziness, irritability, and nausea.”

3. Bitter taste in the mouth caused by heart fire. This type of bitter taste in the mouth is caused by anxiety, irritability, or staying up late, which leads to indigestion and poor bile excretion. It is often accompanied by flushed face, headache, red eyes, and yellow urine. It is worth noting that psychological bitterness in the mouth is also relatively common. Some people are likely to experience a bitter taste in the mouth due to excessive pressure from work and study, and when they are often angry, irritable, anxious, fearful, uneasy, or suffer from insomnia.

4. Improper diet or lack of necessary exercise after a full meal can also cause bitter taste in the mouth. This is because food stays in the gastrointestinal tract for too long, which easily produces damp heat, resulting in a bitter taste in the mouth and vomiting of bitter water, and is often accompanied by symptoms such as yellow and greasy tongue coating, abdominal distension and pain, and yellow urine.

5. Some patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and certain tumors, often have a bitter taste in the mouth and should be vigilant. People with irregular living habits and lack of sleep often have a bitter taste in their mouth when they wake up in the morning. Severe snoring or sleeping with the mouth open can also easily cause bitter taste in the mouth. Excessive smoking, alcoholism, etc. can also cause bitter taste in the mouth. People with oral inflammation may have a bitter taste in their mouth directly caused by local diseases such as gingivitis and other oral diseases.

Specific reasons for yellow tongue coating:

1. The thickness of the moss is determined by whether the bottom is visible or not. If the tongue body can be seen through the coating, it is called thin coating; otherwise it is called thick coating. Yellow indicates heat in the body. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the tongue coating is caused by the stomach qi and food gas rising to the tongue.

2. Thick tongue coating and bad breath usually indicate some minor stomach problems. If you don’t feel any other discomfort at the moment, you can start by adjusting your diet and daily life. Maintain a regular life, be in a good mood, eat easily digestible food, eat more vegetables and fruits, eat less fatty and fried food, and it is best not to drink alcohol or smoke.

3. In addition to looking at the tongue coating, it is recommended to look at the quality of your tongue and compare it with your lips. If it is reddish, it means heat, if it is pale, it means spleen deficiency, and if it is dark, it may be blood stasis.

4. If the tongue coating is thick and yellow, you need to see if it is greasy. The "greasy" mentioned in Chinese medicine is like the feeling of "oil". If so, it means that there is dampness and heat in the body, which needs to be eliminated and heat cleared.

5. If the tongue coating is simply thick and yellow, the yellow color indicates that there is heat in the body. It is recommended to eat normal and cool food at night and not drink alcohol. You will be able to adjust yourself quickly. Because the tongue coating is sometimes related to the weather, the heat and dampness will prevail in summer, and the tongue coating is easy to be thick. If there is no special discomfort, you can consciously eat some things that can eliminate phlegm and clear heat in your daily life, such as: coix seed, lotus seed, water chestnut, poria, tangerine peel, etc., which all have certain therapeutic effects.