title: Patterns of week-to-week table-salt use by men and women consuming constant diets.
abstract: Ad-libitum table-salt use by subjects on constant diets was analysed to determine patterns of individual consistency or variation. Data were obtained from two studies in which free-living subjects ate all meals in a metabolic unit. In one study, 24 men consumed a diet constant in all respects except caloric level and source of dietary fibre over an 80-day period. In the other study, 13 women consumed a diet which varied only in caloric level and riboflavin content over a 67-day period. The menu for each study consisted of a conventional breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Table-salt use was recorded as week-to-week weights of individually assigned salt shakers. Large and significant interindividual differences were observed in the amounts of salt added to the same menu. In contrast, a high degree of intraindividual consistency in salt use was observed from week-to-week and, among the women, across menstrual cycle phases. When food portions were increased during the second half of the men's study, table-salt use increased but the amount used per 1000 kcal remained relatively constant. In both sexes, variance in salt use increased proportionately with the mean.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008598:Menstruation; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012737:Sex Factors; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012256:Riboflavin