Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The Guardian: Salt and Autoimmunity

"Salt shaker on white background" by Dubravko Sorić SoraZG  on Wikimedia

The Guardian recently published this intriguing article that looks at another potential autoimmunity trigger: Salt: no great shakes for your health. Here's an excerpt but head over there to read it all.
......Over the past 30 years, autoimmune disease has overall risen by between 5% and 7% a year. The increase can’t be explained by genetics – our DNA hasn’t changed that rapidly. Researchers have suggested several possible explanations, including environmental toxins, smoking, low levels of vitamin D, and certain infections. But none of these theories has provided an adequate answer. 
“Salt could explain a lot of this mystery,” says David Hafler, professor of neurology and immunobiology at Yale University, and one of the first to make the connection. He notes that autoimmune diseases have increased most in developed countries, where salt consumption is highest. Continue reading here

3 comments:

Heda said...

Nooooo! Salt is my favourite flavour. The best thing in fact the only good thing about sjogren's is that I always have a salty taste in my mouth and if I lick my lips even saltier. Yum. I so don't want to give up salt. This is getting too hard to deal with, Julia.

mcspires said...

I agree with Heda, this can't be.....
I love salt! :(
That said, though, I might try cutting back a bit, if it would make me feel better.

Nicole said...

When I first came across this info I was concerned. I did not eat a lot of salt, but I became more careful. Then I found out I have POTS and need to eat much more salt... So I am hoping for the best. So far (four months), my autoimmune symptoms have not worsened on a high-salt diet, so that's a relief, adn it does help POTS. I will be interested to see where this research goes in the future.

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