“Salt, sugar, sex—the deeper you go, the sweeter it gets”

Medical students remember the three layers of the adrenal cortex, from outer to inner, with: “Salt, sugar, sex—the deeper you go, the sweeter it gets.” “The layers of the adrenal gland can also be described mnemonically according to their hyperfunction as ‘salt, sugar, sex, panic’” was cited in print in 1981. “For persons with a desire to memorize things easily, the 3 functions may be represented by the letter S, as salt, sugar, and sex” was cited in 1988.
 
A contributor to alt.folklore.science explained in 1996:
 
“On medical mnemonics we used to remember the hormones produced by the different levels of the adrenal gland by ‘Salt, sugar, sex: The lower you go the sweeter it gets.’”
 
 
Wikipedia: Adrenal cortex
Situated along the perimeter of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex mediates the stress response through the production of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, including aldosterone and cortisol respectively. It is also a secondary site of androgen synthesis. Recent data suggest that adrenocortical cells under pathological as well as under physiological conditions show neuroendocrine properties; within the normal adrenal, this neuroendocrine differentiation seems to be restricted to cells of the zona glomerulosa and might be important for an autocrine regulation of adrenocortical function.
 
Layers
The adrenal cortex comprises three main zones, or layers.
     
ValueMD
PHYSIOLOGY
MNEMONICS
Hormones
Products of the adrenal cortex, from outer to inner layer: “Salt, sugar, sex; the deeper you go, the sweeter it gets.” (Salt=aldosterone, sugar=glucocorticoids, sex=sex hormones)
 
Google Books
General Surgery 1-3
Volume 3
By John Joseph Byrne and Harry S. Goldsmith
Philadelphia, PA: Harper & Row
1981
Pg. 5:
The layers of the adrenal gland can also be described mnemonically according to their hyperfunction as “salt, sugar, sex, panic” as tabulated in Table 1.
 
Google Books
Boyd’s Introduction to the Study of Disease
By William Boyd
Edited by Huntington Sheldon
Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger
1988
Pg. 544:
For persons with a desire to memorize things easily, the 3 functions may be represented by the letter S, as salt, sugar, and sex. For the others, these categories are the mineralocorticoids, the glucocorticoids, and the androgenic hormones.
   
Google Groups: alt.folklore.science
Science memory aids
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6/12/96
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On medical mnemonics we used to remember the hormones produced by the different levels of the adrenal gland by “Salt, sugar, sex: The lower you go the sweeter it gets”
 
Google Books
Internal Medicine Medical Student: USMLE board parts II and III:
Pearls of Wisdom
By Michael Zevitz,  Scott H. Plantz and Jonathan Adler
Boston, MA: Boston Medical Pub. Corp.
1998
Pg. 311:
What hormones are produced by the adrenal cortex?
Pg. 312:
Mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgenic steroids. (Remember: Salt, sugar, sex.)
 
Google Books
The Art of Medicine:
What Every Doctor and Patient Should Know
By Kevin J. Soden
Philadelphia, PA: Mosby
2003
Pg. 151:
From out to in, remember “salt, sugar and sex. The deeper you go, the sweeter it gets.”
 
Twitter
Henry Duong, M.D.
‏@hpduong
what i learned today: GFR= Salt, Sugar, Sex “The deeper you go, the sweeter it gets.”
5:52 PM - 24 Feb 2008
 
Google Books
Preparing to Pass the Medical Assisting Exam
By Carlene Harrison and Valerie Weiss
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers
2011
Pg. 69:
Adrenal cortex
On the adrenal gland on kidneys
Aldosterone (salt), cortisol (sugar), androgens (sex)
Mnemonic: Salt, sugar, sex: The deeper you go, the sweeter it gets!
 
Twitter
Lauren Zigan
‏@L_Zigan
Professors tip for remembering the adrenal gland layers. “Salt-sugar-sex. The deeper you go the better it gets” 😳
12:11 AM - 26 Jun 2013
 
Twitter
paul steve™
‏@wande_ra
“the deeper you go,the sweeter it gets”
SALT➡SUGAR ➡SEX
Glomerulosa➡fasciculata➡reticularis
4:22 AM - 6 May 2015