Turmeric is stuck in my taste buds! Help me get it out.

November 6, 2019 3:58 PM

I have houseguests. Last night one of them made dinner and put a lot of turmeric in it. So much of it that 24 hours later the taste is still lingering in my mouth. I've brushed my teeth several times. I've used mouthwash. I've drunk lemonade hoping the acidity would help. Nothing is helping and I really really don't like this taste. Am I the only one who has experienced this? Any suggestions? Yeah, I know, it will eventually dissipate.
posted by mareli to Health & Fitness (21 answers total)

Have you tried brushing your tongue or using a tongue scraper? This always does the trick for me.
posted by nightrecordings at 3:59 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

You might try drinking coffee. I know that dry coffee beans in a jar to inhale, are usually placed inside perfume/candle/scent stores to help reset or clarify your olfactory senses. I imagine that drinking coffee might have a neutralizing effect.
posted by Fizz at 4:01 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

I would also suggest trying plain bread or other foods used to combat excessive heat. If the problem is that there's an oily residue containing the spice clinging to your mouth, something like bread should help soak it up.
posted by praemunire at 4:06 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Try drinking dairy, something fatty. Milk or maybe a yogurt drink? Cream cheese or sour cream on something bready, or maybe an oil-heavy dip like tapenade? Fats will bind with the oils that spices (and spiciness) are being carried by.

Also since smell is a huge component of taste, maybe you're not tasting the turmeric so much as smelling it in your environment? Try removing soft surfaces from your kitchen and wherever the food was, airing it out for a while or at least doing some febreeze in the space. Consider washing your hair because it can deftly trap scents.
posted by Mizu at 4:15 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

Also consider this could be a reflux thing if you’re prone to reflux. You could try some chewable tums (which also costs your mouth.)
posted by Crystalinne at 4:18 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I occasionally take turmeric for health promotion reasons. From my experience, just cleaning your mouth is quite useless because the turmeric literally exudes out of my whole body when I take a lot. The unpleasantness wears off within two days by itself. I try not to take it if I know I'm going to be out the next day.
posted by whitelotus at 4:24 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I don't have reflux, I was away from my house for 10 hours today. I've eaten cereal with milk, drunk coffee, eaten macaroni and cheese, pretzels, a really sticky donut, a cheese sandwich, a bunch of blueberries. It's not just my tongue it's my whole mouth.
posted by mareli at 4:24 PM on November 6, 2019

Best answer: None of the foods you ate today except for the coffee are acidic, which I would use to balance out the turmeric taste which to me is so intensely a base taste -- I would have orange juice and make a quick cucumber salad with just vinegar no oil.
posted by nantucket at 4:49 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Dark chocolate.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:58 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Parsley or celery leaves.
posted by Sassyfras at 5:07 PM on November 6, 2019

Best answer: Agreeing on something acidic. I've also had good luck with full fat chocolate ice cream.
posted by gudrun at 5:16 PM on November 6, 2019

Cream of tartar with a chaser of half and half.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:43 PM on November 6, 2019

Neti pot or nasal rinse? The oils could be trapped up there too.
posted by bioubiou at 5:44 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Gargle with some baking soda diluted in warm water?
posted by easy, lucky, free at 6:10 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I agree with what whitelotus said. I haven't had this with turmeric, but I get it with garlic. If I have too much, I start tasting it from inside my tongue and there's nothing I can do until it clears itself up.
posted by Tabitha Someday at 6:31 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I was actually going to suggest above that if all else fails, you could eat a huge amount of garlic. It doesn't clash with turmeric and I bet the garlic exuding from your pores will overpower it. It usually takes me about two days to go from garlic overload to normal again, but it's not much of a hassle because it's rare I'll be eating anything that doesn't go with it other than desserts and I'm pretty happy to skip those most of the time.
posted by Mizu at 6:36 PM on November 6, 2019

One more shot-in-the-dark: have you showered and used soap and shampoo and put on all clean clothes since then? If you're wearing the same sweater, for example, it could be that some stray turmeric is still sticking to all of you. Can't hurt to take a hot shower and really let your nasal passages get all moist and steamy.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:57 PM on November 6, 2019

you clear garlic up with rosemary. but rosemary is powerful in the same way as turmeric. so rosemary might work but sounds like for you it could also be sort of like getting an earworm out of your head with some other song you like even less.
posted by aniola at 8:30 PM on November 6, 2019

The one time that I had a persistent bad taste in my mouth (it was a side effect of a medication I had to take for a week), the thing that blocked the taste for me was Jolly Rancher candies.

I mean, when each candy was done the taste came back, but if this is something you need to ride out, that's not a bad thing to cover it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 PM on November 6, 2019

Did the dish happen to have any pine nuts in it? I ask because I'm wondering if it's definitely the turmeric doing the work here, or if maybe you've got pine mouth.
posted by saladin at 3:01 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OK, here's what worked: a big bowl of cut up tomatoes with a liberal amount of garlic, along with salt, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. It seemed to be working when I went to sleep last night and this morning the taste is all gone. Thank you all for your suggestions!
posted by mareli at 4:27 AM on November 7, 2019 [8 favorites]