Which Deficiency Causes a Metallic Taste in Your Mouth?

Oral care is essential for healthy teeth and gums, keeping your breath fresh, and feeling comfortable. For people who experience an unpleasant, metallic taste across their tongue, no amount of brushing can seem to alleviate the problem. 

Metallic tastes (or tasting blood) can have many different causes and could be related to a vitamin deficiency. We’ll talk about what’s causing you to taste tin and how to fix your metal mouth. 

We’ll also talk about a common vitamin deficiency you probably have. Don’t worry; we have a solution. 

Why Do I Taste Metal?

A metallic taste in the mouth can be common; sometimes, it’s related to something we’ve eaten. Shellfish and tree nuts (especially pine nuts) are notorious for leaving behind a metallic taste in the mouth that can even last up to two days. 

If you have a metallic or bitter taste that lasts for a long period of time, you may have a condition called dysgeusia, which means a prolonged issue with your sense of taste. Other reasons you might be tasting pennies include the following.

Oral Health Issues

Dry mouth and poor oral hygiene can lead to metallic tastes. If you aren’t flossing or brushing regularly, or if you aren’t getting regular checkups with your dentist, you could develop unpleasant tastes in your mouth.

Dental and gum diseases, like periodontitis and gingivitis, or a buildup of tartar along the gumline can cause a change in your mouth taste. Your dental health is the most likely source of all possible causes of changes in your sense of taste. 

Practicing good oral hygiene is key to eliminating these causes and correcting that bad taste. Adding a mouthwash post-brush and rinse can also help. 

Infections

The common cold, for instance, may cause you to experience a loss of sense of taste or a taste of metal in your mouth. Sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, and more serious infections like HIV and syphilis can also cause problems with your taste buds. 

Pregnancy

You may experience changes in your taste buds (along with many other changes) during pregnancy. This is particularly true during your first trimester. 

Accompanying this symptom may also be a change in your sense of smell. Hormonal changes are usually responsible for these issues. Some women also report experiencing a bitter taste in the mouth that leads to increased nausea.

Central Nervous System Issues

If you’ve suffered a stroke or have medical conditions that affect your central nervous system, you may have a metallic taste issue. This is because the nerves that relay messages about taste and smell to your brain have trouble communicating properly. Conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis can alter taste perception. 

Medication

Certain medications can have side effects that include unpleasant taste. Antihistamines, antidepressants, thyroid medications, and medications that include lithium may all be common causes of a metallic taste in your mouth. 

Supplements

Some multivitamins and supplements can leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth, especially if they contain minerals like calcium, magnesium, copper, chromium, iron, or zinc.

These are the most common potential causes of taste changes, including a metallic taste in the mouth. Although vitamin deficiencies are rare, there are some that can include a side effect of tasting metal. 

Vitamin Deficiencies That Cause Metallic Tastes

In most developed countries, vitamin deficiencies are rare. However, they can still occur. Even in America, urban areas can be home to “food deserts” where access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy alternatives are limited. 

It’s also possible to have an underlying medical condition that causes your body to have issues properly absorbing certain vitamins and minerals. As a result, you may experience unpleasant side effects, including a metallic mouth taste.

Copper and Zinc

Being deficient in these two minerals can be a sign of a problem with the liver, and they can also cause an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Ironically, supplementing with these same minerals can also lead to a metallic taste in your mouth. 

Vitamin B

The B vitamins have numerous roles in our bodies. Vitamin B12 helps regulate the oxygen supply in the blood. When there’s not enough oxygen in the blood, you can develop a metallic taste in your mouth. However, it’s important to note you’ll also have other really negative side effects that can include severe mood changes, incontinence, and even delusions. 

Vitamin C 

A deficiency in Vitamin C, also known as scurvy, can lead to issues with your oral health. You may experience a metallic taste along with bleeding gums. The taste usually goes away once the deficiency is addressed and any gum bleeding issues are corrected. 

The only way you’ll know for certain if you have a vitamin deficiency is if you have your doctor check your levels. A simple blood test can determine if you are deficient in any vitamins and minerals. If you are, a simple dietary change may be the best way to address the deficiency. If not, your healthcare provider can help you decide whether a supplement will work for you.

Even though deficiencies are not common, one that is common is C15:0 deficiency. As many as one out of three people are deficient in C15:0; the most concerning part is that most of us don’t know it.

Understanding C15:0 Deficiency

Pentadecanoic acid, or C15:0, is an odd-chain, essential, saturated fatty acid. Essential means our bodies need it to thrive but cannot readily make it on their own. 

There are only three known essential fatty acids; the other two are omega-3 and omega-6. C15:0 is important to the health of our very cells, and not having enough in our bodies can cause our cells to become fragile, weak, and susceptible to early breakdown and lipid peroxidation. 

People who have lower levels of C15:0 experience poorer heart, liver, and metabolic health. A significant research article was recently published in the journal Metabolites describing a newly discovered nutritional deficiency syndrome called Cellular Fragility Syndrome, which is caused by nutritional deficiencies in C15:0. 

It's a substantial development because nutritional insufficiency syndromes — such as those related to vitamin C resulting in scurvy, or vitamin D, leading to rickets — are seldom uncovered. 

In fact, Cellular Fragility Syndrome is the first nutritional deficiency syndrome to be discovered in over 75 years. The recently published work elaborates on the consequences of C15:0 deficiency, an indispensable fatty acid. 

Insufficient amounts can lead to cellular weakness and initiate a process known as ferroptosis. Ferroptosis conversely expedites aging and has effects on our metabolic, liver, and heart health.

On the bright side? This study, in addition to a recent prospective clinical trial published in the Journal of Nutrition, supports fatty15 restoring C15:0 levels, strengthening our cells, reversing ferroptosis, slowing cellular aging, and improving our metabolic, liver, and heart health. 

The Discovery of C15:0

C15:0 was discovered by a team of researchers studying longevity in bottlenose dolphins. The researchers noted that the dolphins that had a higher level of C15:0 in their bodies consistently had a lower occurrence of age-related illness. 

They took their research further, and discovered the same positive health outcomes that were happening with these dolphins also worked for humans. 

What C15:0 Does for the Body

C15:0 helps restore and rejuvenate cells, repairing sluggish mitochondria, improving cellular signaling, and even addressing 6 out of the 12 hallmarks of aging better than other solutions (like rapamycin). 

How does it do it? 

• It keeps cell membranes strong. As we age, cell membranes begin to wear out and become weak. As a saturated fatty acid, C15:0 is solid at room temperature and integrates into weak cell membranes, fortifying them and keeping cells safe. Studies proved that C15:0 improves cell membrane strength by 80%.

• Improves mitochondrial function. Aging mitochondria make less cellular energy, known as ATP, and more reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are damaging to cells. C15:0 rescues this important energy pathway, restoring ATP levels by up to 350% and reducing ROS by 45%.

• Activates AMPK. AMPK is a molecule involved with cellular cleanup. By activating AMPK, C15:0 helps your cells recycle old cell parts, clean out unusable, damaged cells, and reduce inflammatory response. 

• Improves liver enzymes and lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol. 

In addition, C15:0 helps restore total body homeostasis by binding with receptors known as PPARs that control functions like sleep, immunity, glucose uptake, mood, and even appetite.

Do You Have a C15:0 Deficiency?

The only way to know for certain is by ordering the fattty15 C15:0 at-home test or having your doctor perform a blood test. Additionally, you can determine the result of increasing your C15:0 levels by monitoring your complete blood count, fasting lipid panel, and liver enzymes.

C15:0 levels should be above 0.2% of your total fatty acids to prevent nutritional deficiencies and Cellular Fragility Syndrome. It’s worth noting that in blue zones (where people consistently live to be 100), C15:0 levels usually measure betweenaround 0.4% and 0.6% of total fatty acids. 

How To Get More C15:0

It isn’t likely you’re getting much C15:0 in your diet. It’s found primarily in whole dairy foods like full-fat butter and whole milk. Most of us don’t drink whole milk and significantly limit our butter intake. Additionally, a switch to plant-based milk (which is completely void of C15:0) has also lowered our C15:0 levels. A solution? 

Fatty15.

Why a Supplement Is Better

Fatty15 is the first and only C15:0 supplement that contains the pure, vegan version of C15:0 known as FA15™. This 100 mg daily dose of C15:0 can help restore your circulating levels of C15:0 and prevent nutritional deficiencies in this essential nutrient. 

Here’s why:

• First, it's made ready to absorb. In milk (and other foods), C15:0 is attached to branches of lipids called triacylglycerides, aka triglycerides. That means our gut has to use digestive enzymes to break down these triacylglycerides to release C15:0 as a free fatty acid. Once C15:0 is released, it is ready to be absorbed. These multiple steps can make our absorption of C15:0 from foods less efficient. In contrast, FA15 in fatty15 is our proprietary pure, powder C15:0 ingredient already in free fatty acid form. Less work for the gut, more good C15:0 for our bodies.
  
  
• It's not mixed with bad saturated fats. While the good C15:0 fatty acid is present in whole-fat dairy products in trace levels, there are much higher levels of 'bad' even-chain saturated fatty acids that continue to be associated with poorer health. That is probably why studies evaluating the effects of milk on our health are mixed (some say dairy fat is bad for us, while others say it is good for us). Fatty15 provides just the good fat without the bad fats.
  
  
• It skips the cows and calories. Whole-fat dairy products provide a wallop of calories, including sugars (aka lactose), that also require, well, cows. The calories in whole-fat milk likely explain why a large-scale recent study showed that adults who drink more dairy milk are more likely to have a higher body weight. Fatty15 offers a vegan-friendly C15:0, with only one calorie per dose.

Fatty15 provides a pure, vegan-friendly, source of C15:0 without the cows or calories, making it easy and healthful to restore your C15:0 levels and improve your metabolic, heart and liver health.

Leave Heavy Metal to Rock Bands

No one likes the taste of metal in their mouth, and if you are experiencing this issue, your dentist and doctor are your first stops to determine the source of your taste issues. Once you’ve figured out the cause, you can address the unpleasant side effects. 

While you’re at it, go ahead and take care of your cells by ramping up your C15:0 levels. Your health starts and ends in your cells. Taking care of them with fatty15 is one of the best decisions you can make.

Sources:

Dysgeusia (Altered Taste): Causes & Treatment | My Cleveland Clinic.org

Dysgeusia | PMC

Vitamin B12 deficiency can be sneaky and harmful | Harvard Health

Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe | PubMed

A review of odd-chain fatty acid metabolism and the role of pentadecanoic Acid (c15:0) and heptadecanoic Acid (c17:0) in health and disease | PMC

Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds

Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial - ScienceDirect

The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome | Metabolites

Pentadecanoic Acid Supplementation in Young Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial | The Journal of Nutrition