1. Introduction
taste after sleep curtailment, salt taste curtailment
(1) Background: Sleep may be a factor that influences the taste–dietary intake relationship. The effect of sleep on salt taste measures has not been adequately studied, and no standardized methodology has been developed for measuring salt taste preference. (2) Methods: A sweet taste forced-choice paired-comparison test was adapted and validated to determine salt taste preference. In a randomized cross-over trial, participants slept a curtailed night (33% reduction in sleep duration) and a habitual night, confirmed by a single-channel electroencephalograph. Salt taste tests were conducted the day after each sleep condition using five aqueous NaCl solutions. One 24-h dietary recall was obtained after each taste test. (3) Results: The adapted forced-choice paired-comparison tracking test reliably determined salt taste preference. No changes in salt taste function (intensity slopes: Although taste plays a critical role in determining dietary intake [Sleep is one physiological process that has been shown to alter measures of sweet taste [While alterations in sweet taste after sleep curtailment have been demonstrated, there is limited investigation into the effects of sleep on salt taste. One cross-sectional study reported an association between short sleep duration (defined as <6 h) and increased odds of self-reported altered taste perception in general [Apart from limited studies in this area, there are also several limitations in these previous studies that investigated the effects of sleep on salt taste measures. First, none of the studies included hedonic measures of salt taste, which are more reliable predictors of dietary intake than thresholds [To address the lack of understanding regarding salt taste hedonics, it is important to develop a method that enables the classification of adults based on their salt-liking phenotypes, e.g., likers and dislikers. This is important, as previous work suggests that sweet-liking phenotype and sleep curtailment interact [The present work includes two components: part one validated a salt taste preference evaluation method, and part two applied this method in an experiment that investigates the effect of salt taste curtailment on salt taste preference. Four aims were addressed: First, since a standardized salt preference test does not exist [The adapted forced-choice paired-comparison tracking test could serve as a valid and reliable tool to determine salt taste preference.Salt taste liking, measured by the slope of liking ratings of five salty solutions across different concentrations would be steeper after a night of curtailed sleep compared to a night of habitual sleep; however, salt taste function, measured by the slope of intensity ratings would not be affected. Additionally, preferred salt concentration, measured by the newly developed test, would increase.Hedonic measures of salt taste (liking slope and preferred salt concentration) and salt taste function (intensity slope) would be positively associated with energy-corrected Na intake after both the habitual and the curtailed night of sleep.Distinguishable salt-liking phenotypes would be identified.