sodium Archives - Amazing Health Advances

How Much Sodium Per Day Do You Need?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 08:00:05 +0000

Jillian Levy, CHHC via Dr. Axe – How much sodium per day do you need? It turns out, it’s often a lot less than most people consume. As of late 2021, 96 countries around the world have adopted “sodium reduction strategies” to help reduce the amount of sodium that their populations consume on average. One strategy for doing this is by setting limits on the amount of salt and sodium that can be added to popular processed foods and drinks. In October, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition released guidance on “voluntary short-term goals” for sodium content in commercially processed, packaged and prepared foods made in the U.S. The goal of these new guidelines is to reduce excess sodium intake among both children and adults, since studies show that most Americans consume far too much. What’s the danger in consuming too much sodium? Even though it’s a mineral that we need in small amounts to maintain certain bodily functions, a high-sodium diet can contribute to problems like high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction and bone loss. How much sodium per day do you need? Read on to find out. What Is Sodium? Why Do We Need It? Sodium is commonly referred to as “salt.” Many studies show that it’s widely present in the American diet, most often in the form of sodium chloride, which is added to a variety of packaged, canned, bottled and frozen foods and beverages. Even though most people get too much of it, sodium is an important electrolyte mineral that is involved in muscle contraction and the regulation of blood pressure, blood volume and nerve function. How much sodium per day is needed? Sodium recommendations can differ based on a variety of factors. Competitive athletes, for example, should be mindful of their sodium intake and be sure to replenish any electrolytes that are lost through sweat when working out. According to the FDA, more than 70 percent of total sodium intake among Americans is from sodium added during food manufacturing and commercial food preparation. Only 30 percent or less of salt intake is from added table salt or small amounts of salt naturally found in some foods (like meat, dairy products and eggs). When experts refer to “commercially processed and packaged foods,” they are talking about foods to which sodium has been added, not foods that naturally contain some sodium, such as milk. Processed foods that are high in sodium are often multiple-ingredient foods that have been packaged for direct sale to consumers or use in food establishments like restaurants. Sodium is added to packaged and processed foods not only because it enhances the taste, but because it plays a role in food safety and preservation. For example, salt/sodium can help improve microbial safety and stability of foods, extending shelf life and limiting the chances of foodborne illness outbreaks. How Much Sodium Per Day? (New FDA Guidelines) Average sodium intake in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 3,400 milligrams per day. This is considerably more than the amount recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. How much sodium per day should you have? Most authorities advise people 14 years and older to limit their consumption to 2,300 mg/day. In the U.S, “normal sodium levels” that can be supportive of general health are between 1,500 and 2,300 mg/day. A recommendation of no more than 2,300 mg/day has been based on a large body of research that indicates that higher than this amount may increase the risk for certain health conditions, especially high blood pressure (also called hypertension). FDA’s 2021 Guidelines: The FDA stated that its 2021 sodium reduction recommendations have the goal of “encouraging gradual, efficient reduction of overall sodium content.” The organization believes this is possible to do without disrupting the taste or shelf life of popular products, such as cheeses, condiments and soups. The main concern with high sodium intake in the U.S. is that it increases the risk for cardiovascular health problems. It’s been found that sodium consumption in the U.S. comes from a relatively small number of products that are produced by a limited number of food manufacturers. Therefore, the FDA believes that the best way to go about lowering the country’s salt intake is to have these manufacturers gradually reduce how much is used during the manufacturing process. Experts have pointed out that people’s taste buds can adapt to lower salt intake over time, so less salt in foods shouldn’t be a problem from a taste standpoint. This updated FDA guidance aims to help Americans reduce their average sodium intake to 3,000 mg/day. Experts believe that by encouraging food manufacturers, restaurants and food service operations to gradually reduce sodium in foods over time it will help people consume less salt/sodium without even really being aware of it. The 3,000 mg of sodium per day recommendation is still higher than the ideal sodium limit of 2,300 mg/day. However, the idea is that this is a step in the right direction and that’s it’s a realistic goal to hit within the next two to three years. At this time, the FDA guidance is intended to be viewed only as a recommendation, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements change. For now, the guidance is suggested and encouraged for food manufacturers to follow but not required by law. How much sodium should you have a day on a low sodium diet? People with high blood pressure (or hypertension) are sometimes put on a low-sodium diet by their doctors to improve their conditions and prevent complications. How much sodium is OK for high blood pressure? For example, is 1,000 mg of sodium a lot? Is 200 mg of sodium a lot? The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 mg a day for mostly healthy adults. It’s even less, ideally no more than 1,500 mg per day, for adults with hypertension or heart disease. This is based on the fact that your body only needs about 500 milligrams of sodium per day to function properly, which translates to less than a quarter teaspoon of added salt. Between 1,000 and 1,500 mg/day is generally low, but it’s possible as long as you monitor what you eat. Sticking to less than 200 to 500 mg of sodium per day is very low and often difficult to do. This would require eating nearly zero processed foods and a strict diet consisting of only homemade and mostly raw plant foods — plus such low amounts may contribute to some side effects, such as dizziness, weakness and brain fog. Too Much Salt vs. Low Sodium Consuming too much salt/sodium is a much more common problem than not consuming enough. For example, the average sodium intake for Americans is about 3,400 milligrams daily, nearly seven times the minimum amount that the human body needs! When your diet is high is salt (in other words, you have “excess sodium consumption”), you’re more at risk for: Hypertension, which is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death in the United States, while stroke is the fifth leading cause. An increase in excretion of calcium through the urine, which results in bone loss and higher risk for osteopenia or osteoporosis. Kidney disease due to damage of the small, delicate blood vessels in the kidneys. Decreasing population sodium intake is expected to reduce rates of hypertension. Research also shows that the increase in blood pressure seen with aging, common to most Western countries, is not observed in populations that consume low-sodium diets. Consuming less sodium may be able to help lower your blood pressure if this is a condition you’re dealing with. This approach has been demonstrated in many studies investigating the effects of the MIND Diet and DASH Diet (which stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension). Researchers estimate that reductions in average sodium intake to a level of roughly 2,200 mg/day would result in tens of thousands fewer cases of heart disease and stroke each year, as well as billions of dollars in health care savings over time. How to Eat a Lower-Sodium Diet: Now that you know the potential dangers associated with high salt consumption, let’s look at how you can keep your intake in check. You can determine how much sodium a food contains by reading the nutrition facts label. A food is likely to be high or relatively high in sodium if the ingredient label includes words like “sodium,” “salt” and “soda” within the first few ingredients. As a general rule of thumb, processed foods that have been smoked, cured, salted or canned are generally foods high in sodium and should be limited. Foods high in sodium to avoid or limit include: Breads and rolls Pizza Sandwiches Condiments, like mustard, relish, mayonnaise Cold cuts, hot dogs, salami and other cured meats Soups Burritos and tacos Pre-made entrees and frozen dinners Savory snacks, such as chips, popcorn, pretzels, snack mixes and crackers Cheeses Tomato sauces Packaged vegetables Some bottled juices Soy sauce Salad dressings Boxed dessert mixes Buttermilk and some salted butters Foods that are naturally lower in salt/sodium include: Fresh fruits Fresh vegetables Whole grains Dried and then prepared legumes and beans (or rinsed well if canned) Nuts and seeds that aren’t roasted and smoked Lean animal protein and fish Salt substitutes that can be used in place of regular table salt to boost flavor of foods, such as garlic, onion, herbs, spices, lemon juice and vinegars Conclusion How much sodium per day do you need? For most adults in the U.S., it’s lower than what they consume. More than 70 percent of Americans’ sodium intake comes from foods where sodium is added during food manufacturing and commercial food preparation. This is why the FDA is recommending manufacturers reduce sodium content in popular foods. Average sodium intake in the U.S. over 3,400 mg/day, which can contribute to hypertension, cardiovascular and kidney disease, and bone loss. How much sodium per day should you have? Recommended daily sodium intakes depend on factors like your age, activity level and how generally healthy are (including your blood pressure). For most people, it’s recommended to stay below 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day. Ideally, however, sodium intake should actually be lower than 1,500 milligrams. Foods high in sodium include processed meats, canned foods, salty snacks and frozen or convenience items. Whole, fresh foods like veggies, fruits, fish and grains, on the other hand, are naturally low-sodium foods. To read the original article click here.

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Excess Caffeine Intake May Be Linked to Increased Risk of Osteoporosis

AHA Publisher — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:00:37 +0000

University of South Australia via News-Medical – University of South Australia researchers have a bone to pick when it comes to drinking too much coffee as new research finds that excess caffeine may be linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis. Investigating the effects of coffee on how the kidneys regulate calcium in the body, researchers found that high doses of caffeine (800 mg) consumed over a six-hour period almost doubled the amount of calcium lost in the urine. This is the first study to report the impact of high-dose, short-term caffeine intake on renal clearance of calcium, sodium, and creatinine in healthy adults. UniSA’s Dr Hayley Schultz says with the emergence of an increasing ‘coffee culture’ it’s important for people to understand the impacts of what they are putting into their bodies. “Caffeine is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world, with 80 per cent of adults consuming at least one caffeinated beverage per day. It’s a common stimulant, consumed by professionals, parents, shift workers, and teenagers alike to start their day and stay alert – even the military use caffeine to help combat sleepiness. But while coffee has its perks, it’s also important to acknowledge its fallbacks – one of them being how our kidneys handle calcium. Our research found that people who consume 800 mg of caffeine over a typical working day will have a 77 per cent increase in calcium in their urine, creating a potential deficiency that could impact their bones.” Dr Hayley Schultz, UniSA Osteoporosis is a chronic, painful, and debilitating disease which makes your bones less dense and more susceptible to fracture. More common in women, it occurs when bones lose calcium and other minerals faster than the body can replace them. In Australia, an estimated 924,000 people have osteoporosis. The double-blind clinical study saw participants chew caffeine or a placebo gum for five minutes at two-hour intervals over a six-hour treatment period (total caffeine 800 mg). While the primary research objective was to examine the impact of caffeine consumption on wakefulness and other factors, this sub-study aimed to evaluate the impact of caffeine consumption on the renal clearance of calcium. Co-researcher, UniSA’s Dr Stephanie Reuter Lange says understanding the long-term impacts of high caffeine consumption is especially important for higher risk groups. “The average daily intake of caffeine is about 200 mg – roughly two cups of coffee. While drinking eight cups of coffee may seem a lot (800 mg of caffeine), there are groups who would fall into this category,” Dr Reuter Lange says. “People at risk could include teenagers who binge-consume energy drinks are at are at risk because their bones are still developing; professional athletes who use caffeine for performance enhancement; as well as post-menopausal women who often have low blood calcium levels due to hormonal changes and lack sufficient daily dietary calcium intake. “Increasingly, we are also seeing high levels of caffeine among shiftworkers who need to stay alert over the night-time hours, as well as those in the military who use caffeine to combat sleep deprivation in operational settings. “Caffeine in moderation certainly has its pros. But understanding how excess consumption could increase the risks of a highly preventable disease such as osteoporosis, is important.” From here, researchers will explore and predict the impact of different levels of caffeine intake on short- and long-term bone health, with the aim to inform dietary guidelines in Australia. To read the original article click here.

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Drinking Electrolytes Instead of Water Can Help Prevent Muscle Cramps

AHA Publisher — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 07:00:41 +0000

Edith Cowan University via News-Medical – If you reach for water when a muscle cramp strikes, you might want to think again. New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has revealed drinking electrolytes instead of pure water can help prevent muscle cramps. The study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, found that people who drank electrolyte enhanced water during and after exercise were less susceptible to muscle cramps than those who drank pure water. Muscle cramps are a common painful condition affecting many people, including around 39 per cent of marathon runners, 52 per cent of rugby players and 60 per cent of cyclists. Dilution Solution Lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka, from ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences, said the study builds on the evidence that a lack of electrolytes contributes to muscle cramps, not dehydration. Many people think dehydration causes muscle cramps and will drink pure water while exercising to prevent cramping. We found that people who solely drink plain water before and after exercise could in fact be making them more prone to cramps. This is likely because pure water dilutes the electrolyte concentration in our bodies and doesn’t replace what is lost during sweating.” Ken Nosaka, Lead Researcher, Professor, ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences When Cramp Strikes Professor Nosaka began researching the causes of muscle cramps after regularly suffering from them while playing tennis. The study involved 10 men who ran on a downhill treadmill in a hot (35ºC) room for 40 to 60 minutes to lose 1.5 to 2 per cent of their body weight through sweat in two conditions. They drank plain water during and after exercise for one condition and took a water solution containing electrolytes in the other condition. The participants were given an electrical stimulation on their calves to induce muscle cramp. The lower the frequency of the electrical stimulation required, the more the participant is prone to muscle cramp. “We found that the electrical frequency required to induce cramp increased when people drank the electrolyte water, but decreased when they consumed plain water,” said Professor Nosaka. “This indicates that muscles become more prone to cramp by drinking plain water, but more immune to muscle cramp by drinking the electrolyte water.” Not All water Is Equal Electrolytes are minerals including sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride. They are essential for muscle health and help the body to absorb water. Oral rehydration solutions contain electrolytes in specific proportions and can be made with water, salt and sugar. They are commonly found in supermarkets and pharmacies. Professor Nosaka said electrolytes have many benefits for both athletes and the general population. “Electrolytes are vital to good health – they help the body to absorb water more effectively than plain water and replace essential minerals lost through sweat or illness,” he said. “People should consider drinking oral rehydration fluids instead of plain water during moderate to intense exercise, when it’s very hot or when you are sick from diarrhoea or vomiting.” Professor Nosaka is planning further research to find out the optimal amount of electrolytes to prevent muscle cramps as well as how they could help the elderly and pregnant women. To read the original article click here.

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Discover the “Mighty Mineral” Under-Recognized for Its Lifesaving Health Benefits

AHA Publisher — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 08:00:33 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Most people are aware that certain minerals in the body – such as calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium – play a vital role in sustaining life and health. Less “top of mind,” though, are essential trace minerals such as manganese, selenium, copper and zinc. And, although these microminerals are needed in much smaller amounts than the “Big Four,” they also serve indispensable functions in the body. Manganese, in particular, is responsible for an impressive checklist of life-sustaining functions. In fact, research has shown that this hard-working micromineral can help prevent and even alleviate a surprising range of diseases and conditions. As we take a closer look at the “mighty mineral,” the far-ranging benefits of manganese may surprise you. Manganese Works Behind the Scenes to Protect Your Health Manganese is the ultimate “wing-man” in the body, helping to facilitate the contributions of a host of other players. Specifically, it plays an important role in the metabolism of amino acids, cholesterol, glucose and carbohydrates. In addition, manganese helps the body utilize a slew of important nutrients, including vitamin B1 (thiamin) – which helps the cells convert carbohydrates into energy – choline, which is needed for brain development, and vitamin C, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory “muscle” of the immune system. In combination with calcium, zinc and copper, manganese also supports bone mineral density. Plus, it helps to synthesize collagen, which is needed not only for healthy skin but for strong, flexible arteries. Finally, manganese facilitates normal blood clotting. The Benefits of Manganese Include a Stronger Defense Against Injury and Disease One of manganese’s important functions is to help to form superoxide dismutase, one of the body’s primary disease-fighting antioxidant enzymes. In fact, manganese superoxide dismutase is the compound’s full name. The task of superoxide dismutase is to gobble up harmful superoxide free radicals – thereby helping to fight oxidative stress, quench inflammation and slow the aging process. This antioxidant effect allows SOD to help fight a host of inflammatory conditions, including arthritis, COPD, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Research has also shown that manganese is required for the activation of prolidase, an enzyme essential for wound healing. Unsurprisingly, low dietary levels of manganese have been associated with serious chronic diseases. Attention Diabetics: Discover the Health Benefits of Manganese Scientists report that manganese assists in the utilization of biotin, which helps normalize blood sugar. And, early studies have shown that the micromineral could help beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin. It makes sense, therefore, that researchers believe that manganese may help to lower elevated blood sugar levelsand help ward off type 2 diabetes, which currently affects 34 million Americans. One 2014 Korean study found that people with diabetes had lower levels of manganese than those without the condition. In another study, mice with diet-induced diabetes were given manganese supplementation for 12 weeks – with promising results. The team noted that the animals experienced improved glucose tolerance and increased insulin secretion, along with a decrease in the harmful oxidation of fats. While more clinical research is needed, these studies are encouraging. Natural Relief – Manganese Supports Healthy Bones and Joints Studies have suggested that manganese deficiency could be a primary cause of osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become brittle and subject to fracture. It turns out that manganese helps with the formation of certain hormones and enzymes that are involved in bone building. It also plays an essential role in the synthesis of glucosamine and chondroitin, essential ingredients of cartilage. And, it may help to prevent and treat another “osteo” condition – osteoarthritis. One study found that a combination of manganese, glucosamine and chondroitin for four months improved pain and function in people with osteoarthritis of the knee and lower back. Some studies have suggested that taking manganese in conjunction with calcium, zinc and copper can improve bone mass and reduce spinal bone loss in older women. Manganese May Boost Memory and Mood, Ease PMS Naturally The benefits of manganese extend to neurological functions, as well. This mineral is associated with the activity of the nerve cells of the brain, has been shown in animal studies to improve cognitive function. While more study is needed, some researchers believe that manganese can improve learning, memory and even mood in humans. And, it may even play a role in alleviating cyclical mood disturbances in women. A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that premenstrual women with lower manganese levels experienced more pain, insomnia and mood-related symptoms than those with higher levels. How Much Manganese Is Enough? While true manganese shortfalls are rare in those who eat a varied, healthy diet, deficiencies can occur in people with chronic digestive disorders that limit absorption. In addition, a diet poor in manganese-rich foods can cause low levels. According to the National Institutes of Health, the daily adequate intake for manganese is 2.3 mg for men and 1.8 mg for women. However, some natural health experts recommend 4 mg a day for maximum benefit. The tolerable upper limit for manganese is 11 mg a day. Although manganese in small amounts is vital for health, excessive amounts can be toxic. If you would like to try supplementation, make sure to discuss the matter first with your qualified integrative doctor. You can boost your dietary intake of the “mighty mineral” with whole grains – particularly brown rice, which weighs in at a whopping 2.1 mg per cup. Other good sources include raw pineapple, chickpeas, adzuki beans, pecans, almonds and dark leafy greens. As far as exceeding the tolerable upper limit by eating these foods, no worries – there is no evidence showing manganese toxicity from high dietary intake. So, in terms of vitamins and minerals, the benefits of manganese may be somewhat under-appreciated. But make no mistake: this trace mineral is far too important to be overlooked. Sources for this article include: MedicalNewsToday.com, LifeExtension.com, OregonState.Edu, NIH.gov To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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Improve Artery Function by Lowering Your Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio

AHA Publisher — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 07:00:01 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The potassium content in greens is one of two ways they can improve artery function within minutes of consumption. More than a thousand years ago, for the treatment of hypertension, an ancient Persian medical text advised lifestyle interventions, such as avoiding meat and pastries, and recommended eating spinach. A thousand years later, researchers discovered that a single meal containing spinach could indeed reduce blood pressure, thanks to its nitrate content. All green leafy vegetables are packed with nitrate, which our body can use to create nitric oxide that improves the flexibility and function of our arteries. This may be why eating our greens may be one of the most powerful things we can do to reduce our chronic disease risk. As you can see at 0:54 in my video Lowering Our Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio to Reduce Stroke Risk, just switching from low-nitrate vegetables to high-nitrate vegetables for a week can lower blood pressure by about 4 points, and the higher the blood pressure people started out with, the greater benefit they got. Four points might not sound like a lot, but even a 2-point drop in blood pressure could prevent more than 10,000 fatal strokes every year in the United States. Potassium-rich foods may also act via a similar mechanism. If we get even just the minimum recommended daily intake of potassium, we might prevent 150,000 strokes every year. Why? Potassium appears to increase the release of nitric oxide. One week of eating two bananas and a large baked potato every day significantly improved arterial function. Even a single high-potassium meal, containing the equivalent of two to three bananas’ worth of potassium, can improve the function of our arteries, whereas a high-sodium meal—that is, a meal with the amount of salt most people eat—can impairarterial function within 30 minutes. While potassium increases nitric oxide release, sodium reduces nitric oxide release. So, the health of our arteries may be determined by our sodium-to-potassium ratio. As you can see at 2:30 in my video, after two bacon slices’ worth of sodium, our arteries take a significant hit within 30 minutes. However, if you add three bananas’ worth of potassium, you can counteract the effects of the sodium. As I show at 2:48 in my video, when we evolved, we were eating ten times more potassium than sodium. Now, the ratio is reversed, as we consume more sodium than potassium. These kinds of studies “provide additional evidence that increases in dietary potassium should be encouraged,” but what does that mean? We should eat more beans, sweet potatoes, and leafy greens, the latter of which is like giving you a double whammy, as they are high in potassium and nitrates. The recommendation from a thousand years ago to eat spinach is pretty impressive, though bloodletting and abstaining from sex were also encouraged, so we should probably take ancient wisdom with a grain of salt—but our meals should be added-salt free. This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Greger click here.

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One Way to Treat Asthma and Autoimmune Diseases with Diet

AHA Publisher — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 07:00:31 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – Cutting two teaspoons of salt’s worth of sodium from one’s daily diet can significantly improve lung function in asthmatics. In the 1960s and 1970s, a mystery was emerging. Why were childhood asthma rates between 2 to 5 percent in the developed world but as low as 0.007 percent in the developing world? For example, in the developing world, instead of 1 in 20 kids affected, or even 1 in 50 kids, it could be more like 1 in 10,000 kids—extremely rare. And, when kids moved from a low-risk area to a high-risk area, their risk went up. What was going on? Were they exposed to something new? Did they leave some protective factor behind? As I discuss in my video How to Treat Asthma with a Low-Salt Diet, all the way back in 1938, scientists showed they could stop asthma attacks by lowering children’s sodium levels. That was done with a diuretic drug, but subsequent dietary experiments showed that diets high in salt seemed to increase asthmatic symptoms, while “lowering the salt decreased the asthmatic symptoms…” This body of evidence was apparently forgotten…until it was picked up again in the 1980s as a possible explanation for why Western countries had higher asthma rates. Maybe it was the salt. As you can see at 1:34 in my video, researchers graphed out childhood death from asthma versus family salt purchases, and it seemed more salt meant more death. Just because a family buys more salt doesn’t necessarily mean the kids are eating more, though. The way to find out how much salt someone is eating is to collect their urine over a 24-hour period and measure the amount of sodium, since how much salt we eat is pretty much how much salt we excrete. The way to test for asthma, called a bronchial challenge test, is to look for an exaggerated response to an inhaled chemical. And, indeed, there was a strong correlation between how their lungs reacted and how much sodium they were taking in. However, there are all sorts of food additives, like preservatives, that can trigger these so-called hypersensitivity reactions, so maybe high sodium intake was just a marker for high processed food intake. Maybe it wasn’t the salt at all. Or maybe it was other components of the diet. For example, the reason sodium may be a risk factor for another inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis, may be that sodium intake is just a marker for increased fish and other meat intake or decreased fruit and vegetable intake. We needed a study where researchers would take asthmatics, change the amount of salt in their diets, and see what happened—and that’s just what came next. As you can see at 3:16 in my video, researchers doubled the salt intake of ten asthmatics, and lung sensitivity worsened in nine out of ten. There was no control group, though. Is it possible the subjects would have gotten worse anyway? In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers put everyone on a low-salt diet, but then gave half of the subjects sustained-release sodium pills to bring their salt intake back up to a more normal level and the other half a placebo. After five weeks, the groups switched regimes for another five weeks. That’s how you can randomize people to a true low-sodium diet without them even realizing it. Genius! So what happened? Asthmatics on the salt got worse. Their lung function got worse, their asthma symptoms got worse, and they had to take more puffs on their inhalers. This study compared asthmatics consuming about three teaspoons’ worth of salt a day to those consuming less than one, so they were effectively able to drop their sodium intake by two teaspoons’ worth of salt, as you can see at 4:04 in my video. If you do a more “pragmatic” trial and only effectively reduce people’s salt intake by a half a teaspoon a day, it doesn’t work. Even if you are able to cut down your sodium intake enough to get a therapeutic effect, though, it should be considered an adjunct treatment. Do not stop your asthma medications without your doctor’s approval. Millions suffer from asthma attacks triggered by exercise. Within five minutes of starting to exercise, people can get short of breath and start coughing and wheezing such that lung function significantly drops, as you can see at 0:19 in my video Sodium and Autoimmune Disease: Rubbing Salt in the Wound?. On a high-salt diet, however, the attack is even worse, whereas on a low-salt diet, there’s hardly a significant drop in function at all. To figure out why, researchers had the subjects cough up sputum from their lungs and found that those on the high-salt diet had triple the inflammatory cells and up to double the concentration of inflammatory mediators, as you can see at 0:43 in my video. But why? What does salt intake have to do with inflammation? We didn’t know…until now. “The ‘Western diet,’ high in saturated fatty acids and salt, has long been postulated as one potential…cause for the increasing incidence of autoimmune diseases in developed countries…” The rapidly increasing incidence of autoimmune diseases may be due to an overactivation of immune cells called T helper 17 (Th17) cells. “The development of…multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, type I diabetes, Sjögren’s syndrome, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis are all shown to involve Th17-driven inflammation,” and one trigger for the activation of those Th17 cells may be elevated levels of salt in our bloodstream. “The sodium content of processed foods and ‘fast foods’…can be more than 100 times higher in comparison to similar homemade meals.” And, sodium chloride—salt—appears to drive autoimmune disease by the induction of these disease-causing Th17 cells. It turns out there is a salt-sensing enzyme responsible for triggering the formation of these Th17 cells, as you can see at 2:07 in my video. Organ damage caused by high-salt diets may also activate another type of inflammatory immune cell. A high-salt diet can overwork the kidneys, starving them of oxygen and triggering inflammation, as you can see at 2:17 in my video. The more salt researchers gave people, the more activation of inflammatory monocyte cells, associated with high-salt intake induced kidney oxygen deficiency. But that study only lasted two weeks. What happens over the long term? One of the difficulties in doing sodium experiments is that it’s hard to get free-living folks to maintain a specific salt intake. You can do so-called metabolic ward studies, where people are essentially locked in a hospital ward for a few days and their food intake is controlled, but you can’t do that long term—unless you can lock people in a space capsule. Mars520 was a 520-day space flight simulation to see how people might do on the way to Mars and back. As you can see at 3:17 in my video, the researchers found that those on a high-salt diet “displayed a markedly higher number of monocytes,” which are a type of immune cell you often see increased in settings of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disorders. This may “reveal one of the consequences of excess salt consumption in our everyday lives,” since that so-called high-salt intake may actually just be the average-salt intake. Furthermore, there was an increase in the levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and a decrease in the level of anti-inflammatory mediators, suggesting that a “high-salt diet had a potential to bring about an excessive immune response,” which may damage the immune balance, “resulting in either difficulties on getting rid of inflammation or even an increased risk of autoimmune disease.” What if you already have an autoimmune disease? In the study titled “Sodium intake is associated with increased disease activity in multiple sclerosis,” researchers followed MS patients for a few years and found that those patients eating more salt had three to four times the exacerbation rate, were three times more likely to develop new MS lesions in their brains, and, on average, had 8 more lesions in their brain—14 lesions compared to 6 in the low-salt group. The next step is to try treating patients with salt reduction to see if they get better. But, since reducing our salt intake is a healthy thing to do anyway, I don’t see why we have to wait. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Greger click here.

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