Hacker News Reader

Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

I have a theory that a large percentage of food cravings and idle snacking are due to being salt deficient and seeking out salty foods.

Perhaps part of the obesity epidemic is due to the vilification of salt?

View on HN

Your theory can be anecdotally refuted by simply observing that people will eat more when food is well salted. French fries are an easy example. If you have two piles of fries - one salted, one not salted. Which do you think you'd eat more of?

I'm not sure how that would refute GP, perhaps people prefer the salty fries due to salt deficiency...

I mean your test can be juked both directions... perhaps you eat more of the salted pile because you are salt deficient and that pile provides the salt your body needs, while the none salted pile isn't solving the problem and thus is deemed unhelpful by your system?

I'm not saying either are correct, I'm saying this hypothetical is a bad one.

I don’t like the taste of salt and actively avoid things which taste salty, I guess I’m an outlier here lol

Your theory doesn't seem too far off. Perhaps it is not a deficiency but more of a craving associated with hormones like ghrelin.

I find that salty processed foods such as Cheeze-Itz (flavored) are very addicting and not filling at all. My theory was always that anything with onion powder, salt and refined carbs is a craving that can't be satisfied easily.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com