Salt cravings may stem from the womb, researchers say
Your preference for salt may have been imprinted while you were still in your mother’s womb, according to UW psychologists. Researchers Ilene Bernstein and Sue Crystal have found a link between people’s salt preference and the level of morning sickness experienced by their mothers when pregnant.
Studying 16-week-old infants, the UW researchers found that babies whose mothers suffered moderate to severe nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy showed a greater preference for saltwater solutions than did babies whose mothers experienced mild or no morning sickness.
In earlier work, Bernstein and Crystal showed a similar pattern of salt preference among young adults. They found that the adult children of mothers who reported moderate or severe morning sickness had higher self-reported salt use, salt intake in the laboratory and preference for salty snack foods than the offspring of women who had mild or no symptoms.
“It is astonishing that something that happened prenatally and is so common can have such a strong impact on infant preference and can have enduring consequences,” says Bernstein, a professor of psychology who studies taste function and preference.
Nearly two-thirds of pregnant women suffer the symptoms of morning sickness. Bernstein says it is the dehydration associated with vomiting that seems to be the key in shaping a fondness for salt. Heavy salt intake is considered a risk factor for hypertension, and many people on low-salt diets have trouble staying on their diets because they find the food unpalatable.