Research

Hormonal

Higher levels of the satiety hormone leptin are associated with lower salt taste preference during both low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets.

Your body's satiety hormone, leptin, appears to influence how much you prefer salty foods. Higher leptin levels are linked to a lower preference for salt, regardless of whether you are eating low-carb or low-fat. This suggests a biological link between fullness signals and taste preferences.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
we did observe a negative association between salt preference and leptin levels during both LC (rs = 0.59; P < 0.01) and LF (rs = -0.47; P < 0.05) dietary period.
Rosario B. Jaime-Lara et al. · Current Developments in Nutrition · 2025

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=18) and exploratory nature limit statistical power, though the correlation is statistically significant.

Source

The Role of Diet and Hormones on Taste: Low Carb Compared With Low Fat Study Findings

Rosario B. Jaime-Lara et al. · Current Developments in Nutrition · 2025

DOI 10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107467

crossover · n=18Cited 1×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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