Humans have been adding salt to our food for thousands of years and for good reason: It makes just about everything taste better. Not saltier–just better. Why else would people put it on foods like grapefruit, watermelon, cheese, and caramel?
Salt works its magic in several ways. First, it suppresses bitter tastes, which allows the food’s other flavors to come out. Second, it helps food release molecules (called volatile compounds) into the air, making that food easier to smell. And we all know how important our sense of smell is to our ability to taste. (Remember when you were a kid, how you’d hold your nose when taking medicine or when your parents forced you to try a new food that you thought you wouldn’t like?)
In a fascinating new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at Penn State discovered that there’s another way to move those volatile compounds from the foods you eat into your nasal passage: slow, even breathing.
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