Do Salty Foods Make You Thirsty?

Everyone would have heard about feeling of thirst after eating salty foods. New studies showed a different side to this. A study was done during simulated mission to Mars. An international group of scientists found that salt diminishes the thirst factor. Eating salty diet increases hunger due to huge demand for energy.

Natalia Rakova (MD,PhD) of Charite and MDC along with her colleagues brought this new study. They studied this on two groups of 10 male volunteers packed for mock spaceship for two simulated flight to Mars. Volunteers were provided different levels of salts in their food for a period. The results showed that salt appeared in urine and water reversed back to kidneys and body. A broader picture came out when studies were conducted on mice.

Kidneys of mice accumulated urea that counteracted sodium’s and chloride’s water drawing force. Urea takes a lot of energy to get synthesized. This explained mice on high –salt diet ate more. Mice felt hungrier and not thirstier when they were on high salt-diet.

Content: www.sciencedaily.com