Salt Shaker Exonerated in Dietary ‘Myth’

In a study that “shatters the myth of the salt shaker,” researchers have found that people fed a low-sodium diet but allowed to season their food to taste will end up cutting their salt intake by 40% anyway.

“For years people have been saying that if you want to restrict salt, take away the salt shaker, but I think this shows people won’t put too much salt on their food unless it’s already in there,” said Gary Beauchamp, a biopsychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

“It’s nice to reaffirm common sense,” concurred co-researcher Dr. Karl Engelman of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The researchers, who published their study recently in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., say their findings could be a boon for people who want to restrict their salt intake to control blood pressure but find low-sodium foods unpalatable.

“This really shatters the myth of the salt shaker,” he said. “I would hope it would also send a message to food manufacturers that they don’t need to add as much salt as they traditionally have, but I do think that the public will have to change their taste and buying habits as well.”

Over a 14-week study, 11 college undergraduates were fed a low-salt diet but allowed free access to a pre-weighed salt shaker. The subjects were not told the purpose of the study and were encouraged to season their food as they wished.

The researchers found that although the sodium in the food was half of what the students were used to, the salt they added only made up for 20% of the deficit, leading to a 40% reduction in overall salt intake.

Beauchamp hypothesizes that the students ate less salt because “by putting it on the outside of the food, it more easily reached their salt receptors and satisfied their need for perceived saltiness.”

“We have to differentiate between obligatory salt intake and voluntary intake,” Engelman said. “It appears that when people have a choice, their body makes the right one.”