Function of Salt (why is my food bland?)

Why does salt make things taste better? Why would someone add salt in a cake or dessert? In addition to making things taste salty, salt actually helps to bring out flavors in general.

Your taste buds operate through an action potential (like neurons). The cells are kept at -70mV, and fire if the cell “depolarizes” (the charge is raised), which happens around -55mV. This resting potential is regulated by the concentration of Na+ and K+. So when you have salt in food, it essentially lowers the threshold at which the taste buds fire, which allows you to taste other flavors more effectively.

Apparently salt also reduces the perception of bitterness in some foods, which is why coffee tastes smoother with a small pinch of salt.

If you added a lot of spices and aromatics to a dish but still feel like you can’t taste anything, it’s probably because it’s not salty enough. Try adding a pinch!