The tastiness of salt

Salt on French fries, salt on chips, salty popcorn, salt on your food - it tastes good! What's the reason people like the taste of salt and what are the health risks by over consuming too much salt?

Salt enhances the flavor of food, food without flavor seems pretty boring to me... That's why we like the salty taste. Of course, salt has many more important functions in our body.

So, let me explain the other functions of salt (chemical name: sodium chloride) in the body. Sodium is very important for maintaining the fluid balance in our body, it also regulates the blood volume and blood pressure. Another role of sodium is the muscle contraction and relaxation and the transmission of nerve impulses.

As the body retains more sodium, it will leave our body through the kidneys via the urine. Systems will sense osmotic pressure due to the high concentration of sodium, this will generate a hormone, which causes the body to retain water and helping the body to restore the normal amount of fluid. 

It shouldn't be a surprise that having a lot of salt in your diet, eventually can lead to kidney troubles. The body also retains more water, which can cause problems with the extracellular fluid balance and therefore a high blood pressure. A high blood pressure is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular diseases. Something we don't like to get!

One of the 5 basic tastes is salt (others are sweet, bitter, sour and umami). In the past, researchers thought different areas on the tongue were able to recognize a different taste. But further research concluded we can recognize the tastes everywhere on our tongue. It just depends on which receptor is more present on a specific area.

The tongue and 5 basic taste receptors

The taste of salt is produced by the presence of sodium ions. Some other ions, like potassium and lithium do have a salty taste as well. This is because of the same 'alkali metals group' the ions belong. The salty taste buds exist of ion channels, which generates an action potential.

In Holland there are new, conscious salts on the market, where a part of the sodium is replaced by the alkali ion potassium and magnesium. I'm just familiar with this, because my mom bought it for my dad recently. He is a true salt lover... The use of this conscious salt will lower the daily sodium intake, without losing the salty taste. Still, we can easily reach our upper level (UL) of 2,4 gram sodium a day, because sodium is present in many processed foods. Manufacturers add salt to prolong the perishable date and to enhance the taste of course. 

We can also 'taste' salt by the smell of it, a salty scent enhances the taste. Researchers are trying to add different scents associated with salt to products. In the future we will need less salt, for getting the same taste sensation.

I think it's good to know many people are trying to improve our health status by improving the nutrition. That's a goal I'd like to reach some day too.

"Prevention is better than cure!" 

Hopefully you all agree with this saying, which is a perfect end for my blog today!

© Marlou