Background
Smoking can reduce taste sensitivity, the ability to sense various tastes, and diet quality and can increase the incidence of diseases such as hypertension. This study aimed to analyze the association between the smoking amount, subjective salt preference, and salt-related eating behaviors.
Methods
Data of more than 16 million individuals from the Korean Community Health Survey were used. Forest plots were drawn to compare the cumulative odds ratios of salt taste preference and salt-related eating behaviors, adjusted for sex, age, body mass index, education level, household income, marital status, and drinking status at various smoking levels.
Results
Subjective salt preference and salt-related eating behaviors increased with smoking amount; the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for smoking >20 cigarettes were higher than those for smoking <20 cigarettes. For daily smokers, the AOR was 1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22–1.31) for 1–5 cigarettes per day and 1.68 (95% CI, 1.65–1.71) for 16–20 cigarettes per day (P<0.001). Smokers were more likely to have more frequent salt-related eating behaviors than nonsmokers.
Conclusion
The subjective salt preference of smokers was higher than that of nonsmokers. Additionally, smokers used salt or soy sauce and dipped fried food in soy sauce more frequently than nonsmokers, which was also related to smoking amount.

Citations

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  Justin J. Anker, Mustafa al’Absi
  Journal of Neural Transmission.2025; 132(9): 1411.     CrossRef
• Cross sectional study on the prevalence and associated factors of iodine status in the population of Lausanne
  Pauline Ducraux, Aurélien Thomas, Maïwenn Perrais, Julien Vaucher, Pedro Marques-Vidal
  Scientific Reports.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Trend analysis and projection of gastric cancer burden linked to high sodium intake in China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Mongolia (1990–2021): A comprehensive assessment based on the 2021 global burden of disease study
  Xiaohuang Yang, Shaoxing Chen, Canmei Zhong, Yadong Lai, Fenglin Chen, Ricardas Radisauskas
  PLOS One.2025; 20(12): e0338030.     CrossRef