A craving for salt or salty food stems from reasons beyond the taste buds, including anxiety and stress.
Just the way what we eat impacts our mental health, what the body craves has a lot to do with overall well-being. While excessive intake of salt isn’t recommended, here’s what you need to know about the bouts of liking.
Nutritionist explains the link between salt craving and anxiety
Did you know your daily diet staple could be a warning sign of an underlying mental condition? Holistic nutritionist Lisa Kilgour explains what the salt craving in you could mean.
She is a registered holistic nutritionist and sought-after speaker, educator, and writer with millions of followers on social media.
In one of the videos on her TikTok channel, Lisa claims, if you crave salt too much, you could either have low blood pressure or are an anxious person.
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The theory linking salt and moods such as depression anxiety and stress has been established in a study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2023.
The study found that a higher liking of salt in men was indicative of depression and anxiety. Whereas, it leaned toward stress and anxiety in women.
According to Lisa, you may crave salt when you have really low blood pressure and a tendency towards anxiety. As the water in the body absorbs salt, feeding it the same helps regulate the blood volume, thus creating a balance in the blood pressure for day-to-day activities.
The drop in blood pressure can create a tendency towards anxiety. But when you consume a healthy amount of salt, the body can regulate blood pressure, which can also improve your mood and reduce anxiety to some extent.
Lisa is the author of the book ‘Undieting’ and has appeared on TEDx. The nutritionist believes in improving her client’s nutrition while focusing on methods such as “improved self-care, strategies to balance emotions, strengthening gut flora, and improved sleep and lowered stress.”
How much salt is too much salt?
The same amount of salt isn’t recommended for every individual. As the nutritionist explained, people with lower blood pressure may crave it more than others as it’s a necessity over taste.
So, Lisa suggests using your taste buds as a guide for salt consumption, rather than blindly believing that salt is naturally bad. You shouldn’t refrain from consuming salt to your liking unless recommended by a doctor.
If you have a lot of salt cravings despite maintaining a decent diet, you may want to add good quality Himalayan salt or sea salt into your diet.
One way to find out the right amount of salt for you is by adding a pinch of sea salt to a glass of water and when you consume it, it’s supposed to taste like the “most refreshing glass of water” you’ve ever had.
However, if it tastes like salt water scooped right out of the ocean, avoid drinking it.
