[hiddenstar]

I have been eating better for awhile. But lately, I can really taste the salt in food. ie. Ate a piece of cheese, and it tasted very salty to me. This is cheese that I would normally eat a lot but now limit it due to calories. This is happening to a lot of food now. Is this normal since I probably lowered my daily salt intake by eating better?

I also get very thirsty after eating something I find salty.

[Palestrina]

This is normal. The more you eat fresh foods the easier it gets to taste food. When we eat a lot of processed foods we dull our senses of sugary/salty/fats. In order to really "taste" them we have to eat more of them in bigger quantities. It's like drugs, the more you do the more you want just to get that same initial high. By eating better foods, healthier foods and fresher foods we bring our senses back down to normal and maybe one day we can be like the skinny lady next to us who has one bite of cake and is "so full I couldn't eat another thing!" ... well here's to dreaming anyway lol.

[Tilly5]

Since I have been watching what I eat, I no longer have the need to put any salt on food at the table. I still put some salt in my cooking, but just don't have the desire for any extra salt.

[Arctic Mama]

Salt is delicious and nutritious for most of us . There is a world of difference in the salt needed to make prepackaged, nutritionally insipid food palatable, as opposed to salting a stew or the natural delicious saltiness of seaweed, aged cheese, etc.

With my diet, I need a higher mineral intake than the standard American diet to function well. This includes plenty of salt. Food, in general, tastes much richer and more gastronomically complex when you have been weaned off of an overly processed diet. The natural characteristics of food are enhanced so nicely by the right seasoning, salt included - but it can be quite the awakening to the palate to experience depth in natural foods that previously went unnoticed. And of course, there is no accounting for taste - I find little better than straight miso paste or charcuterie, I'm a lover of saltiness and sour, too! But not everyone enjoys the flavor quite as much as me

[HuggerBunny]

I've noticed something similar, but with fruit. It's been a week since I had anything with added sugar, and now fruit tastes REALLY sweet to me. I've been freaking out over apples and usually apples seem pretty boring to me (though I've always loved a lot of other fruits). Of course part of that could be because the apples I have right now are Honeycrisps, which are definitely my favorite, but I've noticed other fruits tasting more amazingly sweet as well I enjoy sweet things but definitely prefer savory/salty. This morning I forgot to put salt on my scrambled eggs (did have cheese on them), and they tasted fine so I didn't add any. That was probably the first time I've not put salt on scrambled eggs, cheese or no!

Have you noticed sweet things getting sweeter, too? I'm curious since you've become more sensitive to salty things!

[IanG]

I couldn't give a hoot about salt. I watch my blood pressure because it can have an effect on that. But salt and weight loss can go hang. A sodium gain is a temporary gain and I live with that.

I eat a ton of fish. And sometimes, that means salty fish.

But I'll take the good fats over a temporary bad scale reading any day of the week.

[Tilly5]

HuggerBunny, I think the same is true for me. Now that I am adapting to better eating I need less salt and sugar and am enjoying some natural flavors more. :-)

[Palestrina]

I have an aunt who thinks that salt is evil. She does not use salt at all, in anything! Her food is completely void of it. Of course she indulges in sugar daily and thinks it's fine. It boggles my mind, I think sugar is the root of all evil.

I think you have to pay attention to your genetics most of all. If you have a family history of high blood pressure then you'll probably have to watch your salt intake at some point. If you have a family history of diabetes then you'll have to be careful of sugar, or a family history of high cholesterol then you'll watch out for fats etc. Pay attention to what's happening in your family, you can't be young forever you know and if you're wise then you can stave off some medical maladies by being careful.

[kwin1973]

I have noticed the same thing. I am constantly complaining that things taste SO SALTY lately!