The associations between genetics, salt taste perception and salt intake in young adults

Abstract

Food liking is one of the main determinants of food intake. Salt taste perception and preference, that play a role in liking of salt, may be genetically determined, although research in humans is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between genetics, salt taste perception, preference, self-reported salt habit and intake. The participants were young (18-35 years) and healthy adults (32 males and 63 females). Salt taste thresholds were determined with British Standard ISO3972:2011 methodology and salt taste preference by ratings of saltiness and pleasantness of tomato soup with salt concentrations reflecting salt content in foods. Self-reported salt habit was determined by asking participants how salty they usually eat their food and salt intake with two 24-hour 5-step multiple pass recalls.Genotyping for variants in the SCNN1B rs239345 and TRPV1 rs8065080 was performed.Participants homozygous for the minor allele of the rs8065080 had lower ratings of saltiness (p = 0.008) and higher ratings of pleasantness of soup (p = 0.027) when compared to major allele carriers. Preference for salt in soup was associated with salt habit (p = 0.003) and participants with high salt preference had higher salt intake compared to those with low salt preference (2236 ± 261 vs. 1543 ± 107 mg/1000 kcal, p = 0.017). TRPV1 rs8065080 may play a role in salt taste perception and preference, which should be confirmed in a larger sample size study. Hedonic appeal of salty food should be considered when providing personalised advice to change this behaviour.

Erythrocyte sodium buffering capacity status correlates with self-reported salt intake in a population from Livingstone, Zambia

“…Estimated dietary salt consumption correlated positively with self-reported salt consumption. This is similar to a prior study where they found that self-reported salt habit or consumption correlates positively with actual salt intake [ 18 ]. Therefore, our data and that of others validates our method of assessing self-reported salt consumption using the questionnaire.…”

Association between fat taste sensitivity and diet quality in healthy male Turkish adults

“…Similar to previous publications, sensitivity to oleic acid was treated as a grouping variable and defined as "hypersensitive (high-fat taste sensitivity)" or "hyposensitive (low-fat taste sensitivity)" to taste (Haryono et al, 2014;Keast et al, 2014;Stewart et al, 2011a), and the median (3.8 mM) was designated as the cut-off for detection threshold (Kindleysides et al, 2017;Pilic et al, 2020;Proserpio et al, 2016;Rodrigues et al, 2017). Subjects with a fat taste threshold ≤3.8 were classified as hypersensitive whereas individuals with fat taste threshold >3.8mM were classified as hyposensitive.…”

Glutamate-Sodium Discrimination Status in Adults Is Associated with Salt Recognition Threshold and Habitual Intake of Discretionary Food and Meat: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…As sodium is an essential nutrient, the ability to regulate salt intake may be linked in some part to the ability to recognize salt in food at lower concentrations and, thus, leading to salt-specific satiety. Some studies have failed to show an association between salt RT and dietary intake [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Other studies have found that a higher salt RT is associated with increased energy intake [ 40 ], increased salty and high-energy food intakes [ 41 ], the addition of salt to food prior to tasting [ 42 ], and increased salt intake [ 40 , 43 ].…”