Why do we crave salt?13

Posted on March 9, 2012 by ChristieWeb Favs

A few weeks ago a really interesting article was posted on one of my favourite blogs: The Scoop on Nutrition. The title immediately caught my eye in my RSS feed: 6 things you need to know about your taste for salt.

Personally, if I’m choosing a treat, then it’s salt all way. I’ll take hot chips over chocolate any day. That’s why I was very interested to read that our taste for salt is developed at around 6 months of age when we start solid foods, and that our threshold level is directly related to how much salt we are given at this age.

It’s something I wish I had known around 10 months ago, since Poppy is now 16 months old. Not that she has much salt in her diet – I monitor that very closely – it’s just that she has been allowed, on occasion, to have one or two chips and she absolutely loved them. Even though I licked most of the surface salt off, I’m sure there was still plenty in there for her to get a taste for it!

{Read the full story here}

Do you have a sweet or a salty tooth?

Christie x

{image source: Lifestyle 100}

  • http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com InTolerant Chef

    Definitely salty. ButI do love the Lidnt dark chocolate with sea salt!

    • http://www.figandcherry.com Christie

      Me too! And salted caramel. It’s the best of both worlds :)

  • http://thehungrynavigatrix.wordpress.com/ The Hungry Navigatrix

    I confess to having cravings for both. They serve different purposes and moods I think.
    Mind you, if I had to choose between never having a piece of cheese again or never having a piece of chocolate again, cheese would win every time. It would have to be my No1 weakness.

  • http://www.clairekcreations.com Claire @ Claire K Creations

    I am definitely salty too. I get so much grief from my man about my salt intake. I put it on everything! It’s just so… salty and delicious!

  • Luke

    Heheh, we lick the salt off chips for Finn as well….
    Interesting stuff

  • http://www.orgasmicchef.com Maureen

    I had no idea we learned all about salt at such a young age. I’m not a salt fan so my mother must have kept the salt in the pantry when I came along.

  • http://theshadypine.blogspot.com/ Anna @ the shady pine

    I wish my cravings for salt meant I had no cravings for sugar but alas it isn’t so :)

  • http://www.mykitchenstories.com.au tania@mykitchenstories

    I like salt but probably not as much as people that eat a lot of pre prepared foods like jars and bottles of sauces and marinated things. There is not much of this in my diet and I do sometimes feel that some foods are incredibly salty (OMG Cornflakes!). I am a fan of salted sweets, is that just wrong?

  • http://nevertoosweetforme.wordpress.com/ Daisy@Nevertoosweet

    I hope I don’t have too much salt in my diet :) Because I can have a whole day where I only just eat cake and desserts and have no savoury food :P i’m glad so many recipes have been reformulated ~ my nephew is 18 months and he’s only just begun eating ‘our’ food that has some salt :) But i’m sure Poppy will be fine with the occasional chip or two ~

  • http://www.figjamandlimecordial.com Celia

    Salt all the way. And now there are so many different salts to choose from!

  • http://www.scoopnutrition.com Emma Stirling

    Oh how rude that I’ve neglected to thank you for the link love Christie! Thank you. I’m fascinated by our different tastes and the science behind it. The more we learn the more we can shape our healthy eating to be the easiest, preferred choice for all. I love my salt especially Mount Zero Pink….but we need to learn more about when to add, how to add to maximise flavour and suit individual differences and finishing salts. Happy cooking and eating. Emma

  • Amy

    I HATE salt :’) I never have it on anything, I love chips but just with vinegar :P
    I’d rated have chocolate :3 mmmmmm

  • Amy

    Rather*

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