Compounds found in toothpaste make people more sensitive to bitter flavors

Aug 26, 2013 17:26 GMT  ·  By

Doctors would love it if everybody were to agree to start their day by drinking a big glass of orange juice.

Truth be told, orange juice contains loads of vitamin C, and those who do drink it on a daily basis have quite a lot to gain as far as staying healthy goes.

On the other hand, I'm sure everybody who has ever tried to gulp down a glass of orange juice shortly after having brushed their teeth agree that, when toothpaste and OJ mix, taste buds go bananas. And not in the good way.

The video above was pieced together by the folks at Scientific American. It explains why, more often than not, toothpaste makes orange juice taste incredibly bad.

Surprisingly, this doesn't happen because citrus and mint come together and throw a really lousy party inside our mouths.

On the contrary, it happens because OJ makes our tongue way more sensitive to bitter flavors than it normally would be.

Check out the video to learn more.