High-salt diet have been linked with different negative health effects. Now a new study found yet another disadvantage of the savory diet: liver damage even in healthy adults and developing embryos.
High blood pressure is probably the most common unwanted effect of eating too much salt. The array of health deficits starts there because high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack and other hazardous medical conditions. Therefore, not being able to address it promptly can be potentially dangerous.
Effects Of Salt On Liver
Aside from high blood pressure, some experts suggest that eating too much salt may also damage the liver. True enough, this study was able to point that one out.
To investigate, researchers from the American Chemical Society performed an experiment to determine the role of salt in liver health.
The study involved study mice, which were subjected to a high-salt diet. The researchers also exposed chick embryos to a salty environment.
The findings show that high-salt diet was linked with numerous modifications in the liver of the subjects. Such changes include irregularly-shaped liver cells, a rise in cell death and a reduction in cell growth.
When cells fail to multiply adequately, it may result in fibrosis, which is the first phase or scar tissue formation.
"In sum, these experiments suggest that high salt intake would lead to high risk of liver damage and fibrosis in both adults and developing embryos," the authors write.
To reverse the bad effects of salt to the liver, the authors found that injecting the cells with vitamin C may somehow provide help.
Salt As A Whole
Salt is an essential mineral that humans and animals need to survive. One of its most important functions is the regulation of water movement inside the body, which is vital in nerve impulse conduction.
Despite its benefits, the amount of salt required by the body is very little. In the U.S., health officials recommend healthy adults to limit their salt intake to only one teaspoon per day.
The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry.
Photo: Dubravko Sorić | Flickr
