Sweet Tooth? Now it's Salt Tooth?

Everyone knows about the sweet tooth, but do you have a salt tooth?

Studies have found a gene, TAS2R48, that codes for a taste for salt, but no need to be salty about it (sorry for the pun, saw an opportunity and I took it), it's just that you would prefer saltier foods than any other, which is useful information for the American Heart Association.

We all know that the AHA recommends a limited amount of sodium in our diet, but people that express a preference for salt, are going to have a much more difficult time cutting down on the salt.  These people, because of TAS2R48 are at much higher risk of high blood pressure. Those in the study that had the gene were found to exceed the daily limit of sodium recommended by the AHA, 2,300mg. In previous study, researches suggested that the people that had the variation of gene for salt preference also enhanced their bitter tastes. "There is some research suggesting that individuals who taste bitter more intensely may also taste salt more intensely and enjoy it more, leading to increased sodium intake," Jennifer Smith, a Phd nursing student at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, said in a statement.

So if you have the salt gene, TAS2R48, be mindful of sprinkling more salt on your vegetables and cut down on the ramen!

Enhanced Bitter Taste Perception May Influences Your Choice Of Food

A new study has shown that there may be a link between taste perception an sodium consumption. Taste perception is not something someone thinks of when it comes to thinking about what they chose to eat.  In another study done, it "showed that people who have one of the two most common variants of gene (TAS2R38) that enhances bitter taste perception are likely to avoid heart-healthy foods with bitter properties, such as broccoli and dark leafy greens." In these study a total of 407 participants were selected. Each participant had two or more risk factors that contributed to heart disease.

The study was being done to see if any other food choices were influenced by this enhancing bitter taste perception. Compared were participants with the gene enhancing variant and the others without. The study revealed that a person with the gene enhancing variant was likely to eat twice as much salt as a person with normal taste perception. The results from the study showed that the only thing that changed was the consumption of sodium. Alcohol, sugar and even fats all stayed the same. Ingesting that much salt over years can take an impact on the human body without a person even knowing. The gene enhancing variant may be the first of many to be discovered. In the future taste perception variant may play an important role in explaining why a person eats certain things compared to another individual.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161113160331.htm

Stress can cause people to retain as much salt as eating french fries

A recent study, which will be presented at the Behavioral Economics, Hypertension Session of the Psychogenic Cardiovascular Disease Conference in Prato, Italy, has revealed that around 30% of African Americans retain too much sodium, about the same amount we would consume from eating a small order of french fries.  Dr. Gregory Harshfield, a researcher of hypertension at the Institute of Publish and Preventive Health at Georgia Health Sciences University, commented: "This response pattern puts you under a greater blood pressure load over the course of the day and probably throughout the night as well, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease."  When African American individuals are stressed, they tend to keep about 160 milligrams of salt, and their normal top blood pressure number increases by about 7 points.  During a full day, this reaction increases sodium loads, adding around 500 milligrams to diets that already contain a large amount of salt. 2,300 milligrams or less of daily sodium intake is recommended by The Institute of Medicine.  Harshfield determined that risky amounts of sodium may be taken away by angiotensin receptor blockers, a well-known treatment for blood pressure.  Angiotensin raises blood pressure levels by telling the kidneys to retain salt, as well as raising the levels of the hormone aldosteron, another culprit guilty of directly the kidneys to hold salt.  The author explained that it is natural for the body to react to stress by increase blood vessel constriction for a short period of time, therefore raising sodium elimination.