Everything we know about salt may not be true.
'24.05.2017'
Source: New York Times
We all have long agreed on the definitions of "white death" in relation to salt and sugar. According to the WHO, on average, a man needs to consume 10 grams of salt per day, and a woman - 8,5 grams.
It is known that excessive salt intake is fraught with increased pressure and the risk of getting cardiovascular diseases. But new research calls into question such a conclusion, writes New York Times.
Erlagen Jens Titz, a nephrologist from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Center in Erlangen, Germany, conducted 2 studies that made you think about how true salt is.
It turns out that salt does not cause thirst in humans, but contributes to the appearance of appetite.
However, not all Titz's colleagues accepted Titz's results positively. It was difficult for them to realize that the statements about salt, which are more than 200 years old, now need to be questioned.
Of course, not only physicians know that table salt is sodium chloride, without which the flow of vital processes is impossible: like the transmission of nerve impulses and muscle contraction. In this case, salt serves as an electrolyte consisting of negatively charged chloride ions and positively charged sodium ions. Sodium ions are especially needed for normal functioning of the kidneys, intestines and liver. Lack of salt is fraught with nervous disorders, digestive disorders, problems with the cardiovascular system. Without salt, our bodies can last a maximum of 10 days.
The lack of such a trace element as table salt leads to drowsiness and muscle weakness, and in severe cases leads to a lack of coordination of movements. Salt, more precisely chlorine ions, contribute to the development of gastric juice. Salt is almost the only source of chlorine for the human body. The lack of salt is replenished from the reserves located in the muscle and bone tissue, which can lead to their destruction - osteoporosis.
All the major debates about salt are divided into 2 parts. Some claim that salt is a white death, the second - that there is no scientific evidence for this. Even in those studies that prove that salt is harmful, there is a lot of contradictory information.
In 1988, the thesis on how salt intake affects blood pressure was comprehensively tested. In the study (using data from 56 of various ethnic groups, in particular, primitive peoples of Amazonia), a comparative analysis of the results of salt consumption in its pure form, as seasoning, and obtaining salt by the body along with natural products was carried out. According to a study published in the authoritative British Medical Journal, the following conclusion was obtained.
Since the Indians consumed a small amount of salt and rarely suffered from hypertension, and also less often died from cardiovascular diseases, the researchers concluded that the reason lies precisely in small doses of salt.
Scientists have become a victim of their own programming and obsession: after all, they studied precisely the effect of salt, therefore, it is all about it. At the same time, they completely forgot that the natives practically do not consume not only salt, but also sugar, as well as fat. In addition, they lead quite an active lifestyle and move a lot.
Later studies on this topic revealed the following picture: indeed, salt abuse causes an increase in blood pressure, but to a very small extent. Although it was recommended to reduce the consumption of salt per day from 9-12 to 5-6 grams, and a longer effect will have a reduction in salt intake to 3 grams per day.
A review of 269 scientific publications on the association of salt intake with hypertension and cerebral hemorrhage showed that excessive salt intake leads to the risk of cardiovascular disease. This was mentioned in 54% of studies, in the remaining - such a conclusion was either categorically refuted, or the researchers did not get an unambiguous result. Therefore, Jens Titz and his longtime colleague Friedrich Luft were delighted when they learned about their participation in the Mars-500 project, organized by the German Center for Air and Space Flight. Ten volunteers agreed to simulate a flight to Mars, stay on the Red Planet and return for 500 days. If for the organizers of the project the main thing was the desire to study the mental state of people going into space, then Titz and Luft seized a unique chance to bring to mind their research on the effect of salt on the body.
For 28 days, they fed experimental volunteers with food seasoned with a constant amount of salt. Then, for the same amount of time, they reduced the amount of salt from 12 to 9 grams and, finally, at the last stage, the amount of salt was reduced to 6 grams. Twice a day, program participants measured pressure and collected tests.
At first everything went according to the expected scenario. The more salt the participants took, the more urine they excreted. Since ancient times, it was believed that salt causes thirst. However, upon closer examination, the researchers were struck by something quite unbelievable: the subjects barely drank water, but in spite of this, more urine was released. Scientists have suggested: thanks to the intake of salt in the body, the kidneys produce additional urea, which requires some energy, which in turn causes hunger. They managed to reproduce a similar result in laboratory mice. Despite the mass of sodium chloride constantly used in the experiment, the concentration of salt in the urine changed. This indicates that the reduction of salt in the body depends on a number of factors, which had never been thought of before.
Clinicians at first did not want to hear about the results of new research. But the indisputable facts that prove the purity of the experiment, outweighed the stubbornness of scientists.
“Until the devastating effects of salt on the body have been proven, it is a mistake to make dietary recommendations,” said Andreas Walthering of the Institute for Quality and Cost-Effectiveness in Healthcare (IQWiG).
