Scientists say brain is the best judge of salt intake
No matter what "experts" may recommend about how much salt you eat, the body has an automatic system controlling appetite that keeps intake at the level the body needs -- and within a narrow range, according to scientists at the University of California-Davis and Washington University, St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
University of Pittsburgh neurologist Dr. Ed Stricker thinks the effect may be even more rooted in physiology than the article indicates, the paper reports:
Ed Strickler, a professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert in salt appetite, raises objections to the way Dr. McCarron and his colleagues analyzed data, but he ultimately supports their conclusions.
Dr. Strickler pointed out that while some animals will seek out salty food to replenish low sodium levels, there is no evidence that human beings have evolved similar behaviors. Instead, he thinks that Dr. McCarron and his colleagues should have paid more attention to the physiological mechanisms that conserve sodium when sodium levels are too low. What Dr. McCarron attributed to human behavior (seeking out food with more salt), Dr. Strickler attributes to physiological conservation of salt.
Dr. Strickler also said some people do follow the low-salt diet recommendations; consequently, he expresses concern that low sodium intake could be just as dangerous as too high an intake. "Your blood pressure is going to be too low, your kidney function isn't going to be what it should be, there are a host of secondary problems," he said.