Learning Moment of the Day

The plural of anecdote is not data but do I have data-tastic anecdote for you!

For the last week, I have had this weird, metallic taste in my mouth every time I eat. It's very strange. Kind of bitter, kind of ... metally. Initially, I thought I was perhaps dehydrated as it is finally warm in Boston(!) and our 'bubbler' ran out of it's H2O bubbles for about a day. So, I drank like a fish but the metallic taste lingered. Lingered after every meal, every snack, sometimes even after water. Weird.

So, I checked in with my roommate, a real life nurse practitioner. Nada. She even got out her fat medical book. Still nada. Talked with Dr. Dad, DDS. Third nada.

THEN, google and some clever search term pairings came to my rescue. Apparently, pine nuts can cause a metallic flavor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut. I just recently bought pine nuts (to make some pesto) and have been snacking on them for the last week. Can't say it's a horribly scientific approach, but I think my anecdote falls in alignment with my digital diagnosis therefore no more pine nuts!

If you love pine nuts, don't worry. It's only certain batches that cause this unpleasant side effect which makes the whole thing even more odd, in my opinion.