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[WhiskerMeister]

gargle peroxide

doesn't peroxide react really negatively to blood or something?

And yeah, drink water. It's good for you, being necessary for survival and all.

the gingivitis is a self-diagnosis based on internet hearsay, but it's probably pretty accurate. i drank about a liter of water or so today and have yet to notice a repeat occurrence of what i am hereby dubbing MSG-mouth due to its wonderful alliterative properties. i also consumed a copious amount of sodium as per Trekkin's suggestions. good to know it's not a hallucination and that i'm not crazy at any rate.

it's probably too early to make a definite ruling but i have a pretty good feeling about this! it's also reassuring to know that my pus isn't leaky.

[G-Flex]

Wait, when did he mention eating sodium? He mentioned eating savory foods. Christ, if you live in an English-speaking first-world nation, odds are you get enough sodium as it is.

Seriously, if you don't understand what someone is suggesting, don't do it.

"Sodium" does not have a taste (well, maybe elemental sodium does, but it's not like you're ingesting that anytime soon). Sodium chloride (table salt) tastes salty. Monosodium glutamate tastes savory (and possibly a bit salty, I have no idea).

[Quarr]

Er, what G-Flex said, for one. I don't think sodium is necessarily what you want to be eating, especially in 'copious amounts'. It's very much a matter of personal health; look up some simple statistics on the effects excess intake has on it.

Also, while I don't doubt that some of our members have medical expertise, most of them are likely just experienced with the internet and this isn't exactly a question you couldn't find the answer to yourself. Failing that, there are better places to turn.

[Virex]

Wait, when did he mention eating sodium? He mentioned eating savory foods. Christ, if you live in an English-speaking first-world nation, odds are you get enough sodium as it is.

Seriously, if you don't understand what someone is suggesting, don't do it.

"Sodium" does not have a taste (well, maybe elemental sodium does, but it's not like you're ingesting that anytime soon). Sodium chloride (table salt) tastes salty. Monosodium glutamate tastes savory (and possibly a bit salty, I have no idea).

Most chloride salts taste salty, which is why sodium chloride can be replaced with potassium chloride without any chance to the taste. Any glutamate salt and most probably glutamic acid (and maybe even glutamate itself) would probably taste savory, since it's the glutamate that does the trick.

[G-Flex]

Free glutamic acid does taste savory, yeah. See: hydrolyzed proteins, autolyzed yeast extract, and a few other common food additives. Basically, even if something says "No MSG", that still doesn't necessarily mean much.


But yeah, WhiskerMeister is giving me the impression that one of these days he's going to get himself seriously ill by misinterpreting somebody's advice and eating a bowlful of Tylenol or something.

[Leafsnail]

If you haven't drunk anything in a day, you're likely to get a few weird effects.  I mean, wouldn't your mouth be horribly dry?

[Canalan]

Brush and floss twice a day, and gargle with Listerine at least once.  Also drink at least a gallon of water a day.  Beyond that, all I can say is hope you don't die or something.

[Trekkin]

Whoa there. I didn't say anything about sodium.

The "sodium" part of MSG is not the umami part; that's the glutamate part. Basically, the flavor you know as savory and flavorists know as umami is caused by one of the twenty amino acids that form proteins, specifically glutamic acid in its ionized form. The sodium part is simply used to stabilize ionized glutamic acid, which typically exists in deprotonated form anyway (pKa of 4.1) by providing it with a positive ion with which to associate, and render it into a powder much like table salt.

When you eat MSG, cheese, meat, or similar foods, the glutamate triggers an odd bunch of synapseless taste receptors that actually act as middlemen, secreting ATP of all things to excite the actual nerves. Those signals get processed in the orbitofrontal cortex and you taste savor.

So, if you want to taste actual umami and fix what I believe to be a combination of metabolic weirdness and threshold adjustment weirdness (sciencey time is over now), go eat something with a lot of free amino acids. If you're not a vegetarian, meat, particularly really juicy meat, works well, as would meat-based soups.

So that's my advice, and the reason I'd make a terrible doctor. Take two pork chops and post in a day or two.

[Grakelin]

Canalan has the solution. Brush your fucking teeth.

[ChairmanPoo]

Dont use listerine. Gargle on sodium bicarbonate instead.

[Trekkin]

Or brush with baking soda soaked in 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Ions are fun!

[Miggy]

Or you could be one of the rare cases of lexical → gustatory sysnesthesia.

[WhiskerMeister]

i had assumed sodium and msg were functionally identical. i mean, table salt and MSG are both a fine white powder and make food taste delicious if added. buying in bulk is pretty great. anyway, by 'consumed copious amounts of sodium' i meant i had some instant noodles with like 2000mg of sodium per 1/2 package. it was pretty delicious and also i added about two tablespoons of MSG to simulate umami.

just so you guys know, i totally brush my teeth twice a day and it was not residual leftovers or anything (that's kinda gross though not as bad as leaky pus sacs); i'm kinda hoping the problem is psychological because i really hate dealing with dentistry people.

If you haven't drunk anything in a day, you're likely to get a few weird effects.  I mean, wouldn't your mouth be horribly dry?

also i'm not really sure but haven't you gone a day or so without drinking/eating and not noticed anything? i tend to skip meals and sometimes not drink for 20 or so hours at a time, not because i'm doing so intentionally but because i just don't feel hungry or thirsty.

Wait, when did he mention eating sodium? He mentioned eating savory foods. Christ, if you live in an English-speaking first-world nation, odds are you get enough sodium as it is.

Seriously, if you don't understand what someone is suggesting, don't do it.

"Sodium" does not have a taste (well, maybe elemental sodium does, but it's not like you're ingesting that anytime soon). Sodium chloride (table salt) tastes salty. Monosodium glutamate tastes savory (and possibly a bit salty, I have no idea).

well, i didn't consume metallic sodium (stuff that combusts in water, it's pretty cool i think); rather when you see food labels that say sodium: xxx mg that's what i meant. anyway.

admittedly the occurrences were pretty rare before but i've been mostly free from that delicious flavored saliva for the past few days. drinking water seemed to help out a lot, and maybe the umami also had some sort of positive effect.

[G-Flex]

i had assumed sodium and msg were functionally identical. i mean, table salt and MSG are both a fine white powder and make food taste delicious if added.

Are you trolling us? I don't believe for a second that you're silly enough to think that two things are functionally identical because they both taste good, are white, and can be crushed into a powder. Christ, by that standard, sugar is functionally identical to them (as is capsaicin; try putting that on your food).

buying in bulk is pretty great. anyway, by 'consumed copious amounts of sodium' i meant i had some instant noodles with like 2000mg of sodium per 1/2 package. it was pretty delicious and also i added about two tablespoons of MSG to simulate umami.

You probably should have mentioned that you actually added MSG, although I have no idea why you'd need to add MSG to instant noodles; those are almost guaranteed to have it.

By that way, that isn't "simulating" anything. That is umami.

well, i didn't consume metallic sodium (stuff that combusts in water, it's pretty cool i think); rather when you see food labels that say sodium: xxx mg that's what i meant.

I know. That's why I said you wouldn't be ingesting the stuff. I'm not insane enough to think you were actually eating metallic sodium.

[Leafsnail]

also i'm not really sure but haven't you gone a day or so without drinking/eating and not noticed anything? i tend to skip meals and sometimes not drink for 20 or so hours at a time, not because i'm doing so intentionally but because i just don't feel hungry or thirsty.

Nah, I generally try to keep myself well watered all the time.  I mean... otherwise your throat hurts, right?

And you would definitely notice if you ingested metallic sodium, heh.  As a hint: if it says "Sodium" on a packet, it's basically a trick to avoid putting the proper salt content on (sodium being a part of salt, so the number looks lower).