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Since this morning (it's now 6pm for me) I've been having constant, slight salivation and also a faint metallic taste in my mouth. I'm not sure whether the two are linked or not, of course. But do these indicate that I have a deficiency of some crucial nutrient?

Edit: oh, there's another piece of the puzzle too. I haven't taken the calcium-magnesium pills I usually have for the past two days, since my bottle ran out and I haven't replaced it yet. Could this be the problem? It seems to me a bit too soon for it to take effect, if it is...

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Are you taking any medications? – DeanS Jan 10 2012 at 3:03
@Dean I am not, no. – Adulescens Appetens Jan 10 2012 at 3:05
Are you female? If so, it could be do to hormonal fluctuations. – DeanS Jan 10 2012 at 3:53
Male. I am a teenager, though, so that's not out of the question. – Adulescens Appetens Jan 10 2012 at 3:55

4 Answers

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Could you be in ketosis? Lots of people notice a funny taste in their mouths when their bodies switch over to burning ketones for fuel.

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It might be. I'm doing IF, which means I have high carb days when I'm working out, but this is coming off a weekend and I don't workout on saturday and sunday... is that enough time to reach ketosis? I keep carbs down at around 30-40g. on rest days. – Adulescens Appetens Jan 10 2012 at 3:13
Eat some carbs and see if it helps. – DeanS Jan 10 2012 at 3:29
One batch of fried yam and it's gone! Guess it was ketosis after all. Thanks guys – Adulescens Appetens Jan 10 2012 at 4:29
Glad to hear it. Love yams :-) – DeanS Jan 10 2012 at 4:54
Thank you so much for this suggestion, suddenly everything makes sense now. – elementai Jan 10 2012 at 12:13
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I would add my support to the idea you are either in ketosis or not eating enough to fuel your body. I had these symptoms relatively frequently when I was struggling with anorexia and getting too little calories and too few carbs. I think DeanS is right that as a male, teen and an athlete restricting and IF might be more stress than your body needs at this stage. But I could be mistaken and everyone has to go with what feels right to them. Perhaps experiment with upping the food for a little bit or giving the IF a break to see how that effects the salivating.

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Ok. So you're a teenage, male athlete. IMHO restricting your carbohydrate to such low levels should not be necessary even if you just lay around all day. It is more important that your carbohydrate comes from healthy sources and I would guess that you are doing that already. Obviously, you are the best judge of what what works for you. That also means that it is always a good idea to use some healthy skepticism when you read advice or information on a blog or on Paleohax ;-).

The only time I've experienced excess salivating with a metallic taste in my mouth is when I had not eaten enough. I was probably in ketosis when this happened, though this was not intentional.

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i would suspect a neurotoxin ingestion. Just google neurotoxin, metallic taste and read for a lifetime about it.

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on second refection magnesium and calcium my be your neurotoxin because both are used in neuro signal conduction. in any case i would say somthing is screwd up. – coprophagous Jan 10 2012 at 18:54

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