ASH: People with hypertension prefer higher salt taste

(HealthDay)—People with hypertension have a taste for more salt in their food than do individuals with normotension, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, held from May 15 to 18 in San Francisco.

Patricia T.M. Villela, from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and colleagues gave French bread with three different concentrations of added salt (421.2, 648.0 and 874.8 mg sodium/100 g) to 28 treated hypertensive and 16 normotensive older individuals (mean age, 73.5 years). Two weeks later, participants had another taste test with other seasonings added to the salted bread samples. Participants answered questions following each sample. Measurements of body mass index, blood pressure, and 24-hour urinary sodium excretion were taken.

The researchers found that, at the first tasting, 68 percent of hypertensive and 31 percent of normotensive volunteers preferred the bread sample with higher salt concentration (P = 0.06). During the second tasting, only 14 percent of hypertensive and 0 percent of normotensive volunteers preferred the bread sample with higher salt concentration (P = 0.35).

"Hypertensive older individuals consume more salt and have higher salt appetite than normotensive ones, and the seasoned bread assists in choice of food with less salt," the authors write.