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High Salt Diet and Osteoporosis

A study published in April 2017 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation brings a new perspective on the body’s response to a high salt diet. The long-standing assumption that after eating salty food you become thirsty may not be true. You may initially be thirstier, but within 24 hours their research found you actually become less thirsty due to your body’s efforts to conserve and produce more water. This process requires energy and the body must obtain this energy by taking in more food or breaking down muscle mass.

So the body could become predisposed to overeating in this high salt environment. Research in mice found that high salt intake causes a catabolic state that is driven by glucocorticoids that breaks down muscle protein. The investigators surmised that water conservation in response to high salt consumption could contribute to disease states such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease since increased levels of glucocorticoids are a potential contributor to these conditions.

So yet another reason to pay attention to the salt in your diet and strive for moderation. The most significant sources of salt in most people’s diets is not what they add to food but what they get from processed foods and restaurant foods. When eating out ask for the nutritional information to determine the sodium levels. You will be amazed at how much sodium some restaurant foods contain. 

 

posted on 9/18/2017