nursing-nutraceuticals-2018-scientifictracks

Page 40

Notes:

allied

academies

Nov 12-13, 2018 | Paris, France

Nutraceuticals and Food Sciences

International Conference on

Nursing and Healthcare

Joint Event

Journal of Food science and Nutrition | Volume 1

The wherefore of salt appetite

Micah Leshem

University of Haifa, Israel

odium is a life-supporting cation, and many animals have

evolved means for its acquisition and retention, respectively

sodium appetite and kidneys. Humans share the retentive

capacity, however, thedeterminants of our humanexcessive salt

appetite, well over physiological need, are less well understood.

Perinatal occurrences of putative sodium loss augment sodium

intake later in life, and sodium loss in perspiration may increase

and condition its attractiveness, but even in need states,

increased intake of sodium seems to require experience, albeit

there may be a predisposition for such learning. Irrespective of

need, humans can learn to prefer a sodium-containing food,

andwhile thismay not generalize to other foods, mere exposure

to high levels of dietary salt has been proposed to determine

intake. These are meagre explanations for a phenomenon as

potent, pervasive, and persistent as ingestion of salt worldwide,

but they rely upon the assumption that we may have an innate

preference for the taste of sodium, such as we have for sweet.

Surprisingly, increased avidity for the taste of salt does not seem

to determine dietary intake. On the other hand, much, or most,

of our sodium intake is untasted consciously, but may drive our

dietary sodium intake. In sum, we have extensive knowledge

of what high salt intake causes, but little of what causes high

salt intake, a mismatch bedevilling effort to regulate our

sodium intake. To redress the balance slightly, I shall present

what is known about the determinants of excessive salt intake

throughout the life-span.

Speaker Biography

Micah Leshem completed his PhD at Leeds University, USA. He professor of psychology

at the University of Haifa, Israel, where he has his laboratory. He has collaborated

with colleagues in Europe, Brazil, and the USA, and has over 70 publications on

mineral appetites, transgenerational effects, and ingestive behaviour, that have been

cited over 2000 times, H-index =25 (Google), and has served on national boards and

parliamentary advisory committees.