Health and salt : A study on salt intake wisely
People will be able to hold out long without eating the food, but they will not be able to last longer without eating the salt and water .
Salt is essential for the survival of people in this way and it is nutrients without alternatives.
It is related to the maintenance of a variety of biological functions such as maintenance of cell membrane potential( everyday using 40 % of the energy), maintenance of osmotic pressure of body fluids, signal transmission of nerve cells, and absorption of nutrients. So appropriate intake of salt is very important for our health.
Recently emerging argument of salt intake related to health.
There have been arguments between the groups which need to be applied selectively because intake of salt is so unhealthy and increases in blood pressure for a long time, and it is not good for some people if the intake of salt is limited. But recently the debate has intensified.
The Institute of Medicine of National Academies, which defined the guidelines for sodium reduction in 2005 and is the most influential organization in the medical field of the world, issued a new report about the latest sodium on May 2013.
Previously, this institution had encouraged people to intake the salt around 5.8g or less a day but its institution concluded that the scientific evidence was insufficient whether its less intake was good for the health or not in last year's report.
When it checked the history of IOM which led sodium reduction, that kind of report was very exceptional.
Since the report of May 2013 by IOM, the same year, the American Journal of Hypertension(AJH) has invited papers of some researchers in the October issue on different opinions about intake of salt and has been a big controversy.
The major theme of the arguments was that the use of the blood pressure as an indicator for salt reduction might encounter to other problems when decreased salt.
As an example, there was the result of comparing the blood pressure of groups between less taking 6.9g of salt and 8.7g or more a day. The group, which took less intake of salt, was slightly lower blood pressure. By the way, that group's factors increasing exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases such as renin, aldosteron, cholesterol, neutral lipid were observed(A.J.H.2012).
Also, according to the report of Journal of the American Medical Association(J.A.M.A.2011), targeting 3,681 people was divided into the group who ate a lot of salt( daily 14.6g of salt ),intermediate group (9.65g), the group that ate less(6.2g of salt ). The result, which was investigated over around eight years, was shown that the group who ate salt at the least marked higher for mortality of cardiovascular disease, and then a group of intermediate. The group who ate salt at the most listed as the lowest of its mortality.
4 times increase of heart attack even if ingesting little salt.
It has been reported the increase of cardiovascular disease since intake of salt was reduced overly, even though the cause was not proven.
For example, the citizens of less intake of salt encountered 4times higher heart attack than that of appropriate salt intake citizens(H.1995) by the result of researches throughout 8 years in New York city. In 2006, a report that showed a mortality of cardiovascular disease occurred as higher as 37% in the group of less salt intake by the result of researches targeting 78 million Americans throughout 14 years (A.J.H.2006).
Through several papers recently, the increasing causes of cardiovascular disease have been reported when salt intake is a little.
In other words, cholesterol and neutral lipid in the blood are increasing when salt intakes less. It is because the process of coming out from the blood vessels to use the organs such as neutral lipid is inhibited by the lack of salt(A. 2001).
It has been revealed research results by using the animal and human experiments which somebody who takes less salt encounters metabolic abnormalities such as abnormal changes of hormone like aldosterone, noradrenalin and the decrease in insulin sensitivity.
The clinical trial using humans was a result that ingested 3.5g, which was 70% of 5g for preferred amount of the World Health Organizations(A.2008). Also there was another report that heathy people with intake restriction of salt caused insulin resistance(M.C.E.2001).
Inversely proportional relations between the amount of salt intake and depression.
There were reports that if intake of salt was limited before putting from the breast milk or fetus, it would be a possibility to increase insulin resistance(P.R.2004) in adulthood and the amount of adipose tissues in case of women(P.R.2004).
One of papers was released about inversely proportional relations between the amount of salt intake and depression on May, this year. Especially those symptoms were clearly shown in the case of women.
Thus salt intake might be described as a defense function to overcome the depression(A.2014).
Taken together the contents of the above, it seems there is no doubt that if intake of salt is too limited, it will be a possibility to generate various health problems.
Of course, it can be explained as difficult situations because a few intake of salt has a bad effect on body as well as intake a lot of salt.
Most of the research results of the above, those were the result of using rock salt without minerals, refined salt or sun-dried salt from massive saltern.
Also, when someone intakes salt without minerals, it has been known that it may cause various diseases by generating harmful active oxygen. But there is no promoting of the policy of sodium reduction by classifying the types of salt worldwide until now.
If we take healthier salt(less generating of harmful active oxygen when intakes) than common salt, it will prevent various problems which caused health issues by salt.
Higher minerals contained Korean sun-dried salt.
The most of people do not even know the difference between sea salt and common salt(mainly rock salt). Even if the there is a difference in the content of minerals, people think there is no enough mineral to affect our bodies.
However, Korean sun-dried salt contains large amounts of minerals, especially the content of magnesium is very high, so around 1% of salt consists of magnesium.
Koran sun-dried salt contains around 2.5 times more contents of minerals than Guerande salt which is wellknown for higher contained minerals in France.
In reality, there is a shocking report that 80 % of the adult suffers magnesium deficiency. In the case of Koreans, if they intake 13g of salt average daily, they can intake magnesium around 130mg a day when they intake Korean sun-dried salt.
Considering the recommended dose, around 400mg of magnesium daily for an adult, they can intake magnesium through salt about one-third of the amount required in a day.
When you are cooking with Korean sun-dried salt, it will be possible to reduce the deficiency of magnesium a lot.
There are continuously coming out of research results which the content of the minerals contained in Korean sun-dried salt is a significant meaning physiologically.
The Korean sun-dried salt effects differently on blood pressures, diabetes compared with rock salt, refined salt.
As a result of experiment in my laboratory, Korean sun-dried salt, which contains more minerals, maintains lower blood pressure than rock salt contained less minerals.
Also, the recent result of clinical studies by the research team of School of Medicine in Chung-Ang University is revealed as the same one.
It has been reported that if taking sun-dried salt contained more minerals, it might be less generating harmful active oxygen than salt intake without minerals(F.S.B.2014).
And, it has been revealed for the difference of harmful active oxygen causing electron transport system by mitochondrial dysfunction.
The result examined by the research team of the author recently has shown that a group of metabolites was grouped separately between the group which took salt with more contained minerals and the other which ingested salt with less contained minerals after performing metabolomic analysis by collecting urine and blood from rats that took Korean sun-dried salt or the rock salt.
In this examination, we knew obvious differences on effect of the metabolism between salt contained more minerals and salt with less contained minerals.
It is a bit difficult to tell the result because it is not yet published a paper. But by the above result, the content of minerals in Korean sun-dried salt may affect the physiology of the organism.
The most ideal salt intake amount for health.
It is understood that the effect on health is made differently depending on the types of salt.
Therefore, it shall be recommended applied criteria differently according to types of salt, but the research on this isn't made at all.
World Health Organization announced reducing 5g of recommended dose of salt a day currently, but as mentioned above, there are many problems that appear when it intakes too little salt.
It is determined that a recommended dose of 5g is less as a personal opinion by the author.
Also there was a recent paper which questioned whether it was necessary to reduce the amount of Americans daily salt intake, average around 8.5g.(A.J.H.2013).
However, it is considered that if someone intakes salt without minerals, it may be possible to increase the oxidative stress, inflammatory reaction which cause all kinds of diseases. That's why the paper may suggest the limitation to intake the amount of salt.
It is the reason why we shall intake the good salt with necessity.
In other words, if we eat the salt to reduce the problem of multiple related illness occurring in common salt, it will be no necessity to intake less unconditionally, but we will taste it and enjoy a better life with it.
Recently processing salt has been developed by using Korean sun-dried salt contained more minerals to the excellent effectiveness of metabolic syndrome.
For example, I hope that researchers and processing companies will be interested in researches and development for processing salt improving insulin sensitivity and not raising the blood pressure.
On the other hand, a lot of people pay more attention to eat the nice salt when they want to eat it directly.
However, it seems that there is no interest which kinds of salt used in processed foods such as Ramen, even if we intake 80% of salt from processed foods.
Processed foods have been used rock salt or refined salt almost until now.
We should pay attention which kinds of salt used in processed foods, if you think about the health for the future
The author does not claim that we shall try to eat a lot of salt .
Recently, according to joint research report of Harvard University and the University of California analyzing over the past 50 years around 45 countries, the average of salt intake amount has shown the range of 6.5 ~12g(average 9.4g) a day.
They argued that the intake of salt was within the normal range and its intake depended on the physiological requirements(A.J.H.2013, A.J.H.ip).
And its range was consistent with the range of argument which was to set the normal position at the range of Renin activity in the plasma from the amount of recommended salt intake.(A.J.H.2013).
Considering such a point, I think salt intake in a daily average, 13g, to Koreans is slightly a lot.
Therefore, it shall be maintaining the policy to reduce the intake of salt continuously running parallel with studying recommended measures to intake better salt with good effects on healthy.
