Salt Encourages Increased Consumption of High-Fat Foods

Adding salt to food can promote the passive overconsumption of foods that are high in fat and override satiety, according to the results of 2 recent studies.

In the first study, researchers gave 49 participants tomato soups with 4 different concentrations of fat and 5 different concentrations of salt.1 Researchers ranked participants’ ability to discern the concentrations, as well as which soup they preferred.
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Overall, both fat and salt effected which soups the participants preferred, with salt having the greatest effect. Fat concentrations of 0%, 5%, and 10% had similar rankings of pleasantness, while 20% was seen as less pleasant, while the most pleasant concentration of salt was 0.25%-0.5%.

“The strong effect of salt on pleasantness may indicate that salt is major driver of food intake of savory fatty foods, and reflects the challenge to reduce salt while maintaining palatability,” they concluded.

“Future research is needed to investigate whether high fat concentrations (20% in the present study) decrease hedonic sensitivity to salt.

In the second study, researchers investigated the role of fat and salt consumption on levels of food intake and the effects of fat taste sensitivity on satiety, and how this was effected by salt intake.2

They determined the fat taste sensitivity of 48 healthy adults and, in a randomized, 2x2 crossover trial, the participants ate 4 lunches after receiving standardized breakfasts. The lunches included macaroni with sauce, with sauces made to be either low-fat/low-salt, low-fat/high-salt, high-fat/low-salt, or high-fat/high-salt. Researchers measured participants’ intake and eating rate, as well as the pleasantness of the food at each of the meals.

Overall, salt increased food intake by 11% independent of fat concentration, which did not effect food intake. Fat taste sensitivity was associated with less intake of high-fat meals, but when salt was added, this association was no longer present.

“The results suggest that salt promotes passive overconsumption of energy in adults and that salt may override fat-mediated satiation in individuals who are sensitive to the taste of fat,” they concluded.

—Michael Potts

References:

  1. Bolhuis DP, Newman LP, Keast RSJ. Effects of salt and fat combinations on taste preference and perception. Chem. Senses. 2016;41(3):189-195.
  2. Bolhuis DP, Newman LP, Keast RSJ. Salt promotes passive overconsumption of dietary fat in humans. J. Nutr. 2016 March [epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.3945/​jn.115.226365 .