Which Vitamin Deficiency Can Cause Salt Cravings?

In developed nations, access to fresh food usually means we don’t see many people who suffer from vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. If a person does not have access to these foods or has an underlying health condition or lifestyle habit that causes them not to absorb nutrients properly, they may develop a deficiency. 

In these cases, it’s usually easy to identify the underlying cause of the deficiency and address it, thereby correcting it. Some deficiencies have notable side effects, like poor skin health, hair loss, or extreme lethargy. Other deficiencies, while significant, may only produce slight side effects, like a craving for salty foods. 

Together, we’ll discuss which nutrient deficiencies can cause a person to crave salty snacks and what you can do to correct them. We’ll also discuss a newly discovered deficiency that is both groundbreaking and affects a substantial portion of the global population. Don’t worry; there’s an easy fix. 

What Causes Salt Cravings?

First things first: not all salt cravings mean you have a vitamin deficiency. Sodium plays an important role in the body, and when we don’t have enough of it, our bodies naturally tell us we need a little more. 

Why We Need Salt

Sodium is an electrolyte. Electrolytes help our bodies maintain homeostatic functions like regulation of blood pressure and blood volume. Sodium also plays an important role in muscle and nerve function.

This is why you’ll find sodium inside every sports drink and electrolyte recovery packet you pick up at the market. Sodium also helps us maintain proper fluid balance in the body. Salt, like other electrolytes, needs to be balanced in the body. Too much salt leads to detrimental health outcomes, just like too little salt. 

Reasons Why You Might Crave Salt

Before we discuss which deficiencies could cause you to crave salt, let’s look at some probable causes of salt cravings. Remember, most vitamin and mineral deficiencies are rare, so it’s likely that your salt craving is due to something other than a vitamin deficiency. 

• Exercise. Strenuous exercise can leave your body depleted of electrolytes. If you’re finding yourself wanting to up your salt intake after a workout, your body probably needs it. 

• Premenstrual syndrome.Fluctuations in hormones like aldosterone during PMS can cause strange food cravings, particularly the craving for salt. 

• Medical conditions. Some underlying medical issues, like Addison’s disease (also known as adrenal insufficiency), can lead to salt cravings. Bartter syndrome may also cause a person to have salt cravings. 

• Lack of sleep and boredom. Feeling tired and/or bored can lead to salty snack cravings as well as stress. This is likely because some salty foods elicit comfort feelings in the brain that trigger dopamine release. 

• Restrictive diets. Diets low in carbohydrates, or those with extremely low sodium levels, may lead to salty cravings because the diets themselves do not contain much sodium. 

If you can’t pinpoint your salt cravings, you may have a deficiency. 

What Deficiencies Cause Salt Cravings?

You may find yourself craving salt even if you don’t have an underlying reason like the ones above. In these cases, you may be deficient in an essential vitamin or mineral. 

Sodium

It probably goes without saying, but if your sodium levels are too low, you’ll crave salt. Recommended sodium intake for adults is 2,300 milligrams per day.

Calcium

Calcium deficiency may also cause a person to crave salty foods. When you consume sodium, the calcium in your bloodstream temporarily increases, tricking your body into thinking the calcium deficiency is over. 

However, this is a temporary surge and the calcium that has been secreted into your bloodstream further depletes your calcium stores, causing you to crave more salt. It can be hard to identify and break the cycle. 

Iron Deficient Anemia

If you don’t have enough iron in your blood, you may find yourself craving salt. Iron deficient anemia may cause other cravings, including picas, or cravings for substances the body does not need, like paper or clay. 

The only way to find out if you are deficient in any vitamin or nutrient is to have a healthcare provider or nutritionist perform a simple blood test. The blood test can help you determine if you are deficient, and your doctor can discuss with you the best ways to fix the deficiency. 

While most Americans don’t have calcium, iron, or sodium deficiencies, they are deficient in a newly discovered essential fatty acid called C15:0. This is a big deal because a deficiency in C15:0 has been associated with numerous metabolic health issues, such as high blood pressure, unregulated blood sugar levels, excess weight gain, and an increased risk of heart disease. 

Getting to the bottom of the deficiency and learning how to correct it took researchers several years, and what they learned is nothing short of monumental.

What Is C15:0?

C15:0 is an odd-chain, saturated fatty acid that has been fully established as essential. Essential means our body needs it to thrive but cannot readily make it on its own. We have to get it from diet or supplements. 

C15:0 joins the ranks of previous essential fatty acids, ALA and LA. At least three independent studies have confirmed that C15:0 meets every requirement to be considered essential.

How Does C15:0 Work?

C15:0 plays an essential role in our cellular health. Cellular health refers to the wellness of our most foundational parts: our cells. If our cells are healthy, we are generally healthy. If our cells are not healthy, we experience a decline. 

Cellular health is also how we measure the biological age of our bodies. Biological age is the age our cells are, irrespective of our calendar age. As such, our bodies may biologically be older or younger than our birthday age. 

So how does it work? As published in Nature Scientific Reports in 2020, C15:0 has been shown to reverse aging inside human cells. Since that initial publication, there are now over 100 peer-reviewed publications describing the health benefits of C15:0. 

As an essential fatty acid, C15:0 is critical for our bodies as it actively repairs, restores, and revitalizes our long-term health at the cellular level by:*

• Strengthening our cell membranes (and us) against age-related breakdown
  
  
• Repairing mitochondrial function, which keeps our body’s energy-producers going
  
  
• Naturally activating receptors (including PPARs and AMPK) that regulate our metabolism, immunity, mood, sleep, and appetite.
  
  
• Naturally inhibiting damaging pathways (including mTOR and JAK-STAT) as a means to support longevity. 

The bottom line: C15:0 deep-dives into cells to strengthen them, repair them, and reverse cellular aging. 

Understanding a C15:0 Deficiency

At the time of the discovery of C15:0, researchers didn’t yet understand the total impact of a deficiency. As research continued, they discovered that C15:0 deficiency was directly linked to a previously unexplained type of cellular death known as ferroptosis.

They found that the accompanying components of ferroptosis (weak cells, lipid peroxidation, abnormal iron metabolism, and damaged mitochondrial function inside the cells) could literally be reversed with C15:0 supplementation. 

Researchers have dubbed C15:0 deficiency Cellular Fragility Syndrome and estimate that one in three people worldwide suffer from this deficiency. The good news is that this deficiency is readily fixable, and studies that align with C15:0 supplementation show even more positive health outcomes by increasing circulating levels of C15:0 like:

• lower LDL-cholesterol levels 
• improved gut microbiome,
• improved liver function
• improved red blood cell health 

Increasing C15:0 is important, but you may be asking yourself if you’re truly deficient. 

How Much C15:0 Do I Need?

C15:0 levels need to be above 0.2% of the total fatty acids in our cell membranes. Interestingly, C15:0 levels in Blue Zone residents (areas of the world where people consistently live to be over 100) are much higher, around 0.6%. 

To find out your levels, you’ll need a blood test. You can order an at-home test that requires a simple finger prick to find out if you are deficient. That just leaves one big question to answer. 

How do we increase our levels of C15:0? Thankfully, there’s an easy button. 

Fixing Cellular Fragility Syndrome

Before we talk about how to fix cellular fragility syndrome, it’s important to understand where C15:0 comes from. C15:0 is found primarily in whole-fat dairy products like whole milk and full-fat butter. In these products, C15:0 is only found in trace amounts. That means you’d have to consume a lot of them to get the amount of C15:0 you need. 

This is problematic for several reasons:

The Absorption Issue

In dairy products, C15:0 is attached to branches of lipids called triacylglycerides (triglycerides). That means our gut has to use digestive enzymes to break down these triacylglycerides to release C15:0 as a free fatty acid. Once C15:0 is released, it is ready to be absorbed. These multiple steps can make our absorption of C15:0 from foods less efficient. 

The Extra Calories and Bad Fats Issue

It’s no secret that whole-fat dairy is packed with calories. Consuming extra calories doesn’t help you maintain a healthy weight. In addition, whole-fat dairy also contains high levels of 'bad' even-chain saturated fatty acids that continue to be associated with poorer health. 

That is probably why studies evaluating the effects of milk on our health are mixed (some say dairy fat is bad for us, while others say it is good for us). Fatty15 provides just the good fat without the bad fats. Whole-fat dairy also contains excess sugar in the form of lactose, which may not be suitable for people with unregulated blood sugar levels. 

The Cattle Issue

If you’re vegan, consuming animal products is off the table for you. This makes the consumption of foods that contain C15:0 problematic. 

Further, the movement to more plant-based milk and meat replacements is driven by a desire for more animal-free products, as well as a desire to veer from cows and cattle because of concerns around methane production. Interestingly, plant-based milk replacements lack C15:0 altogether. 

The solution? Fatty15.

Fatty15: The C15:0 Solution

Fatty15 is the first and only supplement that contains the pure, vegan-friendly version of C15:0 known as FA15™. This groundbreaking supplement addresses the three problematic issues of consuming more whole dairy.

• Fatty15 is already in free fatty acid form. This means more C15:0 for your body, less work on your gut.

• Fatty15 contains only the healthy C15:0 you need, nothing else. At just one calorie per dose, you won’t consume any additional sugars or bad, even-chain saturated fat. 

• Fatty15 is sustainable and vegan-friendly. Fatty15 doesn’t contain any animal products or byproducts, making it vegan and sustainable. Even the packaging is reusable and sustainable. 

Just one capsule per day can increase your C15:0 levels and help you reverse Cellular Fragility Syndrome. 

Deficient No More

This year, make a conscious decision to improve your health and the health of your cells, by adding a C15:0 supplement to your health stack. 

Increasing your levels of C15:0 is one of the easiest and smartest health moves you can make to strengthen your cells and prevent Cellular Fragility Syndrome.

Sources:

Sodium in diet: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? | Scientific Reports

Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial | ScienceDirect

Pentadecanoic Acid Supplementation in Young Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial | The Journal of Nutrition