Why salty food is so appetising when youre by the sea

A table overlooking the sea, with a cold drink accompanied by olives, crisps, nuts, perhaps a tin of sardines or fried fish and chips. Even if you aren’t particularly hungry, the seaside atmosphere seems to demand this kind of savoury, salty food. Is it just force of habit, a physiological need, or does the sea somehow awaken a craving for salt? The prime suspect is sweat. At the beach, we walk, swim, play and sunbathe, and although the breeze may mask it, we lose water and electrolytes in the process. These include sodium, which is essential for maintaining fluid balance, transmitting nerve impulses, and enabling muscle function. When the body detects a significant loss of this nutrient, it can trigger mechanisms that encourage us to find salt. This does not mean that every craving for crisps is an urgent signal from the body though. Most people do not arrive at the beach with an actual sodium deficiency and, in fact, in Western societies we tend to consume more salt than we should. However, heat, exercise, heavy sweating, prolonged exposure to the sun and alcohol consumption can make salty food go down better. The body responds to salt not only as a nutrient, but also as a sensory experience whose appeal varies according to one’s physiological state. Cravings thus arise from the interplay between need, learning, pleasure and the environment. Thirst also plays a part. Salty foods stimulate the desire to drink, and by the sea we usually have cold drinks to hand. The combination of salt, a chilled drink and the warmth of the surroundings is appealing: olives with beer, crisps with soft drinks, nuts with sparkling water, fried fish with lemon, and so on. The pleasure lies in the whole sequence: heat, salt, a cold drink – and most likely some relaxation and conversation thrown in for good measure. The sea as an appetite stimulant Physiology does not explain everything. If it were simply a matter of sweating, we would fancy the same foods upon leaving a sauna as we do at a beach bar, and that is not always the case. The truth is that we eat with our bodies, but also with our memories. The brain learns associations: the cinema is inextricably linked to popcorn, birthdays to cake, Christmas to sweets, and the beach to salty snacks. Environmental cues can influence what we eat and how much, even before we feel physically hungry. The sea combines many of these cues. It smells of salt, seaweed, sun cream, fish, barbecue smoke and summer, which mingle with the sounds of waves, conversations, and crockery on outdoor terraces. Taken together, this forms a kind of “invisible menu” that the brain recognises without ever needing to read it. Read more: Got ice-cream brain freeze? Here’s what is happening Furthermore, many coastal foods are salted for historical reasons. For centuries, before the advent of refrigeration, salt was essential for preserving fish. This gave rise to dishes such as anchovies, mojama, cod, fish roe and numerous other cured fish. In coastal regions, salt is more than just a flavour. It forms part of food preservation, trade, gastronomy and the landscape. That is why the desire to eat something salty by the sea can also be seen as a learned response. We do not seek out salt solely because our bodies may need it, but because we have learnt that it forms part of the ritual of being by the coast. A multi-sensory experience Flavour is not experienced solely on the tongue. Smell, sight, sound, texture, temperature, surroundings and expectations also play a part. Research into gastrophysics has found that the environment can alter the experience of eating. A food may seem fresher, more intense, or more enjoyable to us depending on the cues that accompany it. Eating by the sea is not the same as enjoying the same dish in a closed room. The waves, breeze, salty smell and temperature all change the atmosphere. While these things do not literally increase the amount of salt, they can make the brain perceive the flavours of the sea as more appropriate or pleasant. An anchovy, an oyster or a plate of fried fish fit in with the surroundings, and this often makes food more enjoyable. The brain does not process flavour in isolation, but within the context of the whole scene. A simple snack that seems unmemorable at home can thus seem extraordinary when eaten by the sea. Read more: What causes food cravings? And what can we do about them? Don’t overdo it There is an important caveat to all this: we should not romanticise salt. The body’s craving for salty foods on a hot day does not mean we can consume them without limits. The World Health Organization recommends that adults consume less than five grams of salt a day. Even a small portion of savoury snacks or tinned, salted or fried foods can provide a significant amount of this. Understanding cravings does not justify a free-for-all on salt. And you can enjoy intense flavours without relying solely on ultra-processed foods. Some alternatives include fresh fish and seafood, olives (in moderation), low-salt nuts, gazpacho, salads, pickles (also in moderation), and dishes seasoned liberally with lemon, vinegar, herbs or spices. When we’re at the beach and fancy something salty, there’s probably not just one reason for it. Sweat, sodium and thirst are partly to blame, but there is also the smell of the sea, memories, and a centuries-long culinary culture built around salt. This craving is therefore not just biology or habit. It is a conversation between the body, landscape, senses and memory. A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!