Does anyone have issues with food you eat often starting to taste bad to the point you can no longer eat them?
Over the past 6 to 8 months Im struggling to eat because everything I use to eat now taste terrible …. I love Sour cream and I have tried (10) different manufacturers of sour cream and all of them taste like chemicals and I can’t eat eggs (the taste is beyond disgusting) now I can’t eat chicken it too taste like chemicals (multiple brands) and every single one taste awful…. Im also dealing with Reactive Hypoglycemia (can’t eat bread of any kind) cereal almost kills me (I rarely eat cereal) when I do out of desperation it literally makes me nauseous and shake…. Im worried because my hate list of foods are growing fast and need it to stop.. I eat so little I should be skinny but sadly Im not and I also started exercising over the past 2 months (indoor biking average 2 hours a day) and still haven’t dropped one once …. I did make a PCM appointment but that won’t happen until the end of this month.
Anyone have any ideas what’s could be causing this food issues (hypothyroidism)or something else ? By the way my Thanksgiving was just terrible everything tasted funky…. It’s just sad!
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Batty1
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I’m so sorry you have been having funky food tastes- this is terrible 😱. Think back could you have had a bout of Covid around the time or shortly after? Or any virus for that matter these symptoms are not exclusive.
The only other thing that has impacted on my tastebuds other than a viral infection was a worn out filling that needed replacing or a sinus infection. Had some nasty taste in the back of my throat. Other than that I can’t think of anything.
Long covid? When I had covid, I didn't lose my sense of smell or taste, it was just that everything tasted awful! So, when that happens now - as it occasionally dose - I'm thinking I have another bout of long covid - usually brought on by stress, I find.
I've also been having this same issue and specifically with eggs and chicken. They taste strange to me and recently commented to a friend that it was a chemical taste. I have not been vaccinated nor had covid. It's a very off putting taste and I haven't been buying chicken as much. The walmart brand and Happy Egg co seem to have less of this taste.
Do you think there is Is a possibility it could be after effects of a virus? You can get them and not always have symptoms (as is the problem with Covid) . Some people were asymptomatic….
Omg! I thought I was going crazy! Yes!!! Just been since taking levothyroxine... everything tastes like chemicals! Maybe I'm actually able to taste all the stuff in our food that is not good for us? Pesticides, artificial flavors, colorings, or metals? I dunno, but I'm glad I'm not alone! 😁🤗
Hi Batty1, perhaps you could try an organic chicken/eggs to see whether that would make any difference. I have similar problems with supermarkets chickens and other meat but not with eggs. Even smell of raw meat meat out of plastic wrapper puts me off. Freshness of the meat also matter, i try to buy a whole chicken as fresh as possible , wash it well and take the skin off before cooking.I am suffering from chemical sensitivity issues.
Other possible course maybe ? mold issues, ?candida overgrowth
I might be barking up the wrong tree here but I’m sure I listened to a Liz Earle live this week and they mentioned taste and smell and zinc connection might be worth listening to that live it was with pharmacist from the naked pharmacy.
If they didn’t mention it look up Zinc regardless and how you can increase it as it’s definitely connected to immunity and thought taste & smell.
I notice a huge difference between organic and non-organic foods! Organic has FLAVOR. I can really relate to your eating difficulties. Texture has become a real issue with me and I find myself getting nauseous over the littlest issues. Seems like I eat to satisfy "mouth hunger" because the "body hunger" gets turned off at everything. I also have a longer than average large colon (TMI 😄) so whatever I eat has at least a 3-day transit. Ugh!
I see you are from the US. When I lived in Saudi I was not only in close contact with lots of Americans, I was in close contact with their/your food. I was shocked to find everything (chicken and vegetables in particular) were effectively ‘bleached’ before buying. There was also a huge amount of sales of ‘bleach’ (can’t remember the name of it right now) on sale expressly for this purpose, which was bought by Americans to continue this habit in Saudi. I don’t know about eggs. Could it be that you are now tasting what effectively has always been in your food chain? There may be areas in the US where this is a necessary process (I don’t know) but people from all over the US living in Saudi were following this protocol. Much of the food was also imported from the US.
Yes I live in the US and Im not sure where in the US you visited or who you hung around with in Saudi from US that used bleach on their chicken but I promise you that’s not something I have ever seen or participated in because well that’s just gross and just bananas and if I ever pick chicken up and it smelled like bleach you better bet I would march myself back into that store and then report them… ewww
Now I do have a friend that WASHES her chicken but I don't believe she uses bleach but Im gonna ask just for giggles.
Just a quick addition. Trade deals between the US and the UK have been problematic for decades. One of the main issues, believe it or not, is American welfare protocols for chickens that they/you want to be a big part of any trade deal. Honestly I don’t know if it’s a bleach issue but the method of ensuring chicken welfare in the US is a big enough problem for the USA/UK trade deals to be jeopardised. Off course the USA are very anti British meat because of ‘mad cow disease’ too.
Clorox is the name of the product the Americans all used, diluted, for their chickens and vegetables cleaning - instructions were printed on the containers.
You may be correct and all the Americans living in Saudi may be deluded but glad you find it amusing.
Investigate elevated histamine and mast cell activation. This can change taste and is bought on by eating certain foods you have become intolerant to. The intolerance can activate further intolerance so the answer is not necessarily to avoid those foods but switch to a low histamine diet and maybe supplement quercetin or any anti-allegy/hayfever type pills.
If you read my profile you will see I have suffered taste and oral issues for many years.
Based on past food intolerance tests I have avoided gluten, hemp and amaranth for several years. These are (what I call) my genuine intolerances that do not sit well with my genetic disposition.
However, after realising I was acquiring further intolerances, it was suggested to be the result of exaggerated mast cell response. Mast cells release histamines as part of a healthy, balanced immune system but unmanaged autoimmune disease can alter this balance. It’s as if we make a permanent shift from parasympathetic mode to sympathetic placing us in a very volatile and vulnerable position.
As we can not stop eating (or exercising or being stressed to a degree), the aim is to encourage mast cell stabilisation and reduce the inflammatory response with a low histamine diet (see below) supported with antihistamine pills or/and natural antihistamines such as Vit C, Vit D, fish oils, curcumin, quercetin, bromelian, etc. Even some calming adaptogens might help.
Some people go on to develop full blown Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and there are members far more informed regarding this than myself . It can be tied up with IBS, or conditions such as POTS or EDS associated with some Hashi sufferers.
At the moment I’m detoxing mould. Its presence and the detoxification process are both known mast cell activators, making me very mindful of this condition at present. Below are some links I googled as can't find the practitioner notes I originally followed.
I had allergy testing years ago and was doing injections the only thing that popped positive was trees … which probably explains why I can’t take thyroid meds with Acacia in them… Maybe another allergy test would be in order its been years and maybe now Im having more issues….. Thank you
Sorry you're having food-taste issues Batty1 . It sounds truly awful.
Lots of good advice already given.
Can only add experience from my situation, where it seems similar, albeit, only a fraction of what you're suffering. I'm sub-clinical with an intact thyroid which also differs significantly from your situation.
However, I've developed a permanentbad breath and yucky mouth (for no reason) in recent years and years prior to that, started not being able to taste food properly. Nothing like the severity of your situation but wondering if it's a precursor to what you're suffering?
In retrospect, there was an unexplainable decline in liver function, (Edit: plus kidney disease), rise in cholesterol and onset of pre-diabetes. All developed, I now believe from many peoples' experiences as well as medical information posted on this forum, because of a declining thyroid.
I don't have any genetic or environmental causes and historically, had excellent readings in all areas (except for the thyroid!).
Therefore, I blame my thyroid for packing it in and bringing about the yucky breath/mouth/no taste issue.
Can only hope, Batty1, that if your thyroid function is improved/medicated enough, this will alleviate your symptoms?
Your story sounds familiar to me. I've had lots of tastes change over the ten years since my thyroidectomy. It was particularly acute shortly after my operation when I started disliking a lot of foods I commonly ate. I do suspect that my general pleasure in the flavour of food has never returned. But it's hard to tell because it is also mixed up with a lot more fatigue making it harder to chew and swallow, so I've often had a poor appetite.
In the past few years I've been doing the auto immune protocol on and off. I'm finally getting to the point where I dont really want to eat grains or sugar. Over the past year or so I've become much less tolerant to any processed foods, and I feel like I can taste all the nasties in them a lot more than I used to be able to.
I had been congratulating myself and thinking I had finally had some health breakthroughs. But the way you have described it has made me think maybe this is more of a hypo symptom.
Fortunately for me, fresh vegetables and several meats that I like, and nuts and tinned pulses haven't been a problem for me, and those are the things I try to eat anyway. But I do feel increasingly restricted in being able to eat anything that diverges from fresh, home cooked foods. As some other posters mention, I can also fell the difference between organic and higher welfare vegetables, meat and dairy. A lot that comes from the supermarket I can't have, and I eat mostly from specialist high welfare suppliers.
Only one little positive of tastes changing, I made a commitment to myself to increase my intake of oily fish recently. And I found I really really enjoy tinned sardines and mackerel. This is something years ago I would have forced myself to eat, but now I can't get enough of it. Strange, because it is strong flavoured, but it is food I'm happy to include in my diet for nutrition reasons, so I'm not questioning it.
As you mention eating cereal, this is something I also struggle with. Recently I've been dabbling in it, and I would add a lot of raw nuts and dried or fresh fruit on top, then cream on top of milk as I aim to eat a fairly high fat diet. Then I made the connection I could just drop the grains altogether, and put a couple of handfuls of nuts and fruit into the bowl and top with milk and cream instead. Or yoghurt could also be a good substitute for the cream.
I find this a healthier alternative, as it skips the grain and is lower in carbs and higher in fat and protein, but it is just as quick to prepare and eat as cereal is.
Hehe... Just realised maybe I sound completely mad here 🤣
I do end up eating quite strange things. A combination of not having the energy, but still trying to eat healthily and cope with intolerances. I'll leave it in case it is useful to someone.
You don’t sound mad at all I came here and posted this because I thought I was going mad and glad it’s not just me having another problem that others are experiencing this too… I’m so tired of the problems !
Just like to add another point on the taste issue, though not suggesting it is a concern for you Batty1 .
My father had symptoms of Parkinsons all his adult life (only diagnosed in senior years) and one of them was not being able to taste his food by at least his early 40's. (He also could have had a thyroid storm in his early 20s where he ended up in hospital and nearly died.)
Found out years ago on a Canadian hospital's website on their Parkinson's study, that loss of taste is one of the symptoms.
Who knows, but I now suspect a malfunctioning thyroid could be a factor in a lot of conditions/diseases.
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