bubble_chart Concept

Sour taste in mouth refers to the sensation of a sour taste in the mouth, and in severe cases, a sour smell can be detected.

Sour taste in mouth is different from "acid regurgitation." Acid regurgitation refers to the upward flow of acidic fluid from the stomach, while sour taste in mouth only involves the sensation of a sour taste without the actual regurgitation of acidic fluid. For more details, please refer to the entry on "acid regurgitation."

bubble_chart Pattern Analysis

1. Liver Heat︰A sour taste in the mouth, bitterness, fullness and pain in the chest and hypochondrium, irritability and proneness to anger, or a flushed face, vertigo, vexation, dry stools, yellow urine, a thin yellow tongue coating with a reddish tongue body, and a wiry and slightly rapid pulse. This is attributed to excess heat in the liver, which may arise either from emotional depression transforming into fire and generating heat, or from pathogenic heat accumulating in the liver and gallbladder. Sourness is the flavor of wood, and when liver heat rises and steams upward, it produces a sour taste. A persistent sour taste in the mouth and bitterness are signs of a pattern of excess heat in the liver, such as fullness and pain in the chest and hypochondrium, irritability and proneness to anger, vexation, red eyes, headache, vertigo, yellow urine, dry stools, a wiry, slippery, and rapid pulse, and a yellow tongue coating. The treatment focuses on soothing the liver and clearing heat. Once the heat is eliminated, the sour taste will disappear. Bupleurum Liver-Clearing Decoction can be prescribed, and in severe cases, Angelica, Gentian and Aloe Pill may be used.
2. Liver Invading Spleen Due to Spleen Deficiency︰A sour taste in the mouth, or acid regurgitation, vomiting bitterness, or belching and sighing, no pleasure in eating, gastric stuffiness, abdominal distension, and fullness after meals, fatigue and lack of strength, loose and thin stools, a white tongue coating, and a thin-wiry or wiry-moderate pulse. Spleen deficiency with liver wood overacting manifests as a sour taste in the mouth, indicating spleen deficiency first, followed by liver wood overacting. The root of the disease lies in the spleen, belonging to a syndrome of deficiency/excess complexity. This aligns with the Medical Orthodoxy: "There are also cases where spleen and stomach qi weakness allows liver wood to invade the earth position, resulting in a sour taste in the mouth." Therefore, the primary symptoms are spleen-stomach weakness, accompanied by a sour taste in the mouth, vomiting of sour and bitter fluids, or belching with acid regurgitation, along with poor appetite, gastric stuffiness, abdominal distension and fullness after meals, and loose stools. As liver wood invades the earth position, there may also be distending pain in the hypochondrium, a tendency to sigh, and a thin-moderate pulse with wiry qualities. Treatment should focus on invigorating the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, supplemented by calming the liver. When earth (spleen) is strong, wood (liver) is less likely to overact. The Six Gentlemen Decoction combined with the Left Metal Pill may be modified for use.
3. Retention of Undigested Food︰A sour taste in the mouth, or belching sour and foul, anorexia with aversion to food, stuffiness and distension in the epigastric and abdominal regions, constipation or loose stools with foul odor, or unsmooth bowel movements, thick and greasy or yellow tongue coating, and a slippery and forceful pulse. This condition is caused by overeating or excessive consumption of rich, greasy, and heavy foods, which impair the spleen and stomach's transportation and transformation functions, primarily manifesting as an excess pattern. Cases of retained food stagnation invariably have a history of food injury (dyspepsia), with symptoms dominated by food retention and failure of the stomach to descend qi, such as aversion to food without hunger, a sour taste, or regurgitation of sour and foul matter, or belching with the odor of undigested food, a yellow, thick, and greasy tongue coating, and a slippery and replete pulse. The treatment principle should focus on promoting digestion and removing food stagnation, as well as harmonizing the stomach and descending qi. The recommended formulas are Harmony-Preserving Pill or Aucklandia and Areca Pill.

The symptom of sour taste in the mouth should be differentiated by identifying deficiency and excess, and distinguishing between zang-fu organs. Those that are deficient are mostly due to spleen deficiency; while those that are excessive are mostly in the liver and stomach, either due to liver heat or stomach excess.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Xiezheng Lun．口舌: "sour taste in mouth is dampness-heat, observe how meat soup turns sour overnight in hot weather, and you will know that sourness is transformed by dampness-heat. Pueraria Root Coptis Rhizome Skullcap Decoctionadd Stephania Tetrandra, Virgate Wormwood, Akebia Stem, Talc, mongolian snakegourd root, indian buead tuckahoe to treat it, or Atractylodes Rhizome, Phelloendron Bark, Coptis Rhizome, Evodia Fruit can also treat it."