Comparing Salt Cravings and Thyroid Problems

There are many people who seem to get strange cravings at different times in their lives. Women during pregnancy are probably the best example of these strange cravings, craving chocolate, ice cream, pickles or any combination of the same. There are also people who will have salt cravings for various reasons. In some cases, women will crave more salt when they are getting ready to menstruate due to the hormones in her bloodstream affecting the way her body processes the sodium in her blood. In other cases the salt cravings can be indicative of a more serious concern that the person should get checked out by a physician to make sure that there are not more serious health issues to treat. Whenever a person starts to have a craving that he has not had before, he should check with the doctor to see if he should be tested for a deficiency in his body.

Thyroid

Although there is not a direct link from salt cravings to thyroid issues, there is an indirect one. Salt cravings can be indicative of a problem in the adrenal gland, something that can have a direct affect on the thyroid. Salt cravings can show that the adrenal gland is not functioning properly and it can affect the thyroid's function. The adrenal gland produces the hormone cortisol which helps the body to maintain the proper sodium levels in the blood. When the cortisol is not produced, the salt cravings start and the thyroid begins to be affected. In order to help to solve this problem, the person will need to start to eat more sea salt that is naturally produced with his meals to raise the sodium level while the adrenal gland is supplemented by nutritional means to build it back up again.

There are other reasons why individuals will crave salt in their diet. Some people have grown up with very salty foods so that they are used to having these foods in their diets. When this is the case, it is not that the person needs more salt in their diet; they merely like to have their foods more salty for the taste of it. Another reason that people will have a salt craving is that they work out a lot and become dehydrated. In this case they will want to combine their water intake with a salt consumption so that they can better regulate their bodies for their electrolytes to fire appropriately once again.

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