Preferred Salt Concentration Research Articles

Sodium Intake Tracked from Infancy and Salt Taste Preference during Adolescence: Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Field Trial in Brazil

BackgroundEffective interventions to promote healthy sodium intakes require understanding factors driving liking for salt taste. ObjectivesTo examine effects of an early feeding intervention among low-income mothers on their children’s energy and sodium intake and salt taste preferences at 12 years; and to identify age-related changes in dietary sodium sources. MethodsSecondary analyses were conducted on dietary intake and taste preference data collected from children in a longitudinal trial (NCT00629629). Mothers randomized to the intervention group received counseling on healthy eating practices for 1 year postpartum; the control group received no counseling. Two-day dietary recalls were obtained at 1 year (intervention end) and at 4-, 8-, and 12-year follow-up visits, from which foods were categorized as unprocessed, processed, or ultra-processed. At the 12-year visit, children’s most preferred concentration of salt was measured using a validated, forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking method, and pubertal stage was self-assessed. ResultsThe intervention group had reduced energy intake compared with controls in all food categories at 1 year (P = 0.04) but not at the other time points. Sodium intake from processed foods increased from 4 to 12 years and from ultra-processed foods from 1 to 4; intake from unprocessed foods decreased from 1 to 8 year (all P < 0.01). At 12 years, children in early stages of puberty (Tanner stages 1–3; P = 0.04) or in the ≥75th percentile of sodium intake (P < 0.01) preferred significantly higher concentrations of salt than the other children. ConclusionsBoth dietary intake of sodium and early puberty were associated with preferences for higher salt concentrations. Childhood and adolescence are important periods for understanding how experience and growth shape diet by changing salt taste. Clinical Trial RegistrationThis manuscript reports secondary analysis of data collected in trial NCT00629629 (2001–3) and follow-up [https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00629629?term=NCT00629629&draw=2&rank=1].

Validation of preferred salt concentration in soup based on a randomized blinded experiment in multiple regions in Japan\u2014influence of umami (l-glutamate) on saltiness and palatability of low-salt solutions

Sodium reduction is an important public health goal. Individual and population approaches are necessary for reducing the sodium content of processed foods and meals. The aim of the present study is to affirm the effect of monosodium l-glutamate (MSG), an umami substance, on the saltiness or palatability of low-salt solutions and to explore the preferred salt concentration in soup. Five hundred and eighty-four healthy participants from nineteen regions in Japan tasted 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9% NaCl solutions with or without 0.3% MSG. Evaluations of saltiness and palatability for each solution were conducted using a visual analog scale in a double-blinded randomized manner. Saltiness gradually increased depending on the concentration of NaCl. The saltiness of the 0.3% NaCl solution with MSG was rated significantly higher than that without MSG. The palatability ratings were higher for the solutions with MSG than for those without MSG for all NaCl concentrations. In particular, the palatability rating of the 0.3% NaCl solution with MSG was twice as high as that without MSG and was significantly higher than that of the other five test solutions. Furthermore, these results were observed to be approximately the same, irrespective of sex, age, region, etc. Salt reduction is believed to result in a loss of palatability. However, our results suggest that umami can compensate for the loss of palatability caused by salt reduction and that the addition of an appropriate amount of an umami substance can facilitate salt reduction from 0.9 to 0.3% without sacrificing palatability.

High‐throughput salting‐out‐assisted homogeneous liquid–liquid extraction with acetonitrile for determination of baicalin in rat plasma with high‐performance liquid chromatography

Baicalin is the main indicator for qualitative and quantitative analysis of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and its prescription in vivo and in vitro. Owing to its insolubility and instability, the analysis of baicalin in biological samples is analytically challenging. Although there have been many pharmacokinetic or metabolism studies on baicalin, the current reported sample pretreatment methods are not the optimal choice with regard to absolute recovery and operation procedure. Here we report a high-throughput salting-out-assisted homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction method with acetonitrile and ammonium sulfate. Eight kinds of commonly used salts, preferred salt concentration and auxiliary solvents were investigated. The extraction efficiency in the presence of ammonium salt and auxiliary solvent (methanol) in comparison to that from the salt-free aqueous increased to above 90%. The performance of the developed pretreatment method was further evaluated through testing specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, extraction recovery and stability. In particular, the stability investigation results proved that the operation at low temperature would no longer necessary be for salting-out-assisted homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction compared with protein precipitation, and the pretreatment method would be valuable if the compounds were unstable within matrices.

Lowest neonatal serum sodium predicts sodium intake in low birth weight children

Forty-one children aged 10.5 +/- 0.2 years (range, 8.0-15.0 yr), born with low birth weight of 1,218.2 +/- 36.6 g (range, 765-1,580 g) were selected from hospital archives on the basis of whether they had received neonatal diuretic treatment or as healthy matched controls. The children were tested for salt appetite and sweet preference, including rating of preferred concentration of salt in tomato soup (and sugar in tea), ratings of oral spray (NaCl and sucrose solutions), intake of salt or sweet snack items, and a food-seasoning, liking, and dietary questionnaire. Results showed that sodium appetite was not related to neonatal diuretic treatment, birth weight, or gestational age. However, there was a robust inverse correlation (r = -0.445, P < 0.005) between reported dietary sodium intake and the neonatal lowest serum sodium level (NLS) recorded for each child as an index of sodium loss. The relationship of NLS and dietary sodium intake was found in both boys and girls and in both Arab and Jewish children, despite marked ethnic differences in dietary sources of sodium. Hence, low NLS predicts increased intake of dietary sodium in low birth weight children some 8-15 yr later. Taken together with other recent evidence, it is now clear that perinatal sodium loss, from a variety of causes, is a consistent and significant contributor to long-term sodium intake.

Salt Preference in Adolescence Is Predicted by Common Prenatal and Infantile Mineralofluid Loss

Leshem, M. Salt preference in adolescence is predicted by common prenatal or infantile mineralofluid loss. Physiol Behav 63(4) 699–704, 1998. We investigated early determinants of salt preference in humans. In animals, physiological events, among them perinatal mineralofluid loss, contribute to long-term salt intake. Recent findings suggest that in humans prenatal mineralofluid loss (high levels of maternal vomiting) may increase the lifelong avidity for salt in offspring. Here we report that commonly occurring events that cause mild fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance in infancy, as well as prenatally, predict the avidity for salt in adolescents. Using questionnaires, 50 mothers recalled incidence and severity of infantile diarrhea and vomiting in their adolescent offspring. The adolescents’ avidity for salt was determined by testing the preferred concentration of salt in soup, voluntary consumption of salty snack items, and by self report of salt use habits, and a dietary questionnaire. A reported history of mineralofluid loss including maternal vomiting and infantile vomiting and diarrhea increases the avidity for salt but not for sweet. Thus, commonly occurring early mineralofluid loss may contribute to lifelong salt intake. The findings raise the possibility that other causes of mineralofluid loss such as hemorrhage, exercise-induced dehydration, or neonatal diuretic therapy may also increase the avidity for salt, and its attendant health risks.

EFFECT OF QUANTITY CONSUMED ON MEASURES OF LIKING FOR SALT CONCENTRATIONS IN SOUP

ABSTRACT.Two studies are reported on the effect ofingestion on the relative‐to‐ideal ratings of salt in soup. In the first study there was a reduction in the measure of ideal concentration from pre‐ to post‐ingestion, with subjects consuming the soups ad libitum. However, a measure of ideal concentration derived from several small samples presented in each session agreed well with the final post‐ingestion ideal. A measure of most preferred concentration of salt based on total soup consumption was unrelated to the other measures.In the second experiment, the post‐ingestion decrease in most preferred salt concentration was replicated when subjects consumed a fixed quantity of soup. The post‐ingestion ideal was similar to that derived from rating either several small samples in one session or one single small sample per session.

The effect of a surface coating of table salt of varying grain size on perceived saltiness and liking for paté

SummaryThirty subjects rated samples of paté with five concentrations of salt for intensity of saltiness and for liking. The samples were made up either with the salt incorporated into the paté or added to the surface as small or large crystals. Intensity was highest for the small crystals on the surface and lowest for the salt in the food. The slope of the psychophysical function was also lower for salt in the food than on the surface and the Weber ratio for the salt in the food was larger. There was no significant difference in the most preferred concentration of salt between samples with the salt in or on the food but overall liking was lower for the latter. These results show that a surface coating will give greater saltiness than the same amount of salt incorporated into the food, but as the surface coated paté samples were less liked, this would not offer a useful means for reducing the amount of salt in the diet.

Increasing dietary salt alters salt taste preference

In previous studies with humans, moderate reduction of dietary sodium decreased preference for salty foods. It had been hypothesized that this occurred via reducing taste stimulation with salty foods. Taste function after increasing dietary salt (NaCl), either with or without increasing salt taste stimulation, was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, one group of subjects was required to add crystalline salt to food daily for 4 weeks. A second group ingested salt tablets for the same period. A third group ingested a placebo. Whereas urinary sodium excretion increased in both groups ingesting supplemental salt, the concentration of salt in soup rated as tasting most pleasant increased only in the group adding salt to food. Rated intensity of salt did not change. In Experiment 2, salt supplementation was extended to 6 weeks and taste function was tested more extensively. At the end of the experiment, the concentration of salt in soup rated as tasting most pleasant increased in the group which added the crystalline salt to food. This group also added more salt to soup to taste than did the salt tablet group. The most pleasant concentration of KCl in soup was not significantly affected. Taken together these two experiments suggest that the preferred concentration of salt in soup can be increased after dietary salt supplementation and that increased salt taste stimulation is probably required for this to occur.