Study Finds That Salty Foods Make You Hungry Rather Than Thirsty

For a long time, we’ve believed that salty foods, like crisps and pretzels made us thirsty. However, recent research has intriguingly found that salted foods don’t make us thirsty at all – in fact, they make us hungry.

On The Mission To Mars

Researchers from the Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine and Vanderbil University carried out a study on a simulated mission to Mars.

By measuring the connection between salt intake and drinking, they found that participants who had more salt urinated more often; not because they were drinking more water, but rather because the salt stimulated urine production.

According to Jens Titze of Vanderbilt University the study showed, “the biological principle of salt excretion is water conservation and water production.” When salt causes a large amount of urine production, the body must work harder to conserve water  by either taking in more fuel or breaking into energy stores. This makes people overeat.

Instead of increasing thirst, salt consumption may conversely cause hunger as the body tries to find a way to replenish lost fuel.