2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
If every time you start eating, you look longingly at the salt shaker, even though the dish you are served is flavored, you can blame your genes for that. Experts explain that deviations in them may be to blame for excessive addiction to salt and sugar.
Unfortunately, these genes, which are rooted in our evolution, can put our health at risk. Each person carries a distinctive set of taste buds. They determine how food, medicine and spices will taste.
U. S. researchers recently found that people with a common variant of the gene called TAS2R38 are almost twice as likely to eat unhealthy amounts of salt.
People who carry this genetic variety feel bitter foods many times more than others and for this reason tend to avoid healthy foods with a bitter taste such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and dark leafy vegetables.
Experts from the University of Kentucky have found that people with this variant of the specific gene are about 40% more likely to consume more than 5.75 grams of salt per day, which is the maximum allowable human limit.
Even without genetic abnormalities, people today consume more than the required amount of salt. We get it from processed foods and ready meals. As we know, salt is a risk factor for high blood pressure, which, in turn, contributes to heart attacks and strokes.
Genetic abnormalities do not directly affect a person's health, but they still have a decisive influence on him, imperceptibly pushing us to unhealthy and risky foods, says lead researcher Jennifer Smith during the presentation of his work at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.
Scientists are now developing a special drug to reduce genetic aversion to bitterness and at the same time suppress the irresistible urge for increased salt intake.
According to the latest data, salt consumption has increased by about 35% among the population of the European Union. Until two years ago, the average daily consumption of the spice was about 6 grams, which exceeded the health norm. Now, however, this amount has increased to 8 grams.
People with an increased desire to consume salt have a clear need for additional sodium intake. It is this need that we will try to suppress, so that our patients will focus on healthier foods and protect themselves from a number of diseases, Smith explains.
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