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Researchers in the US and Australia have identified the mechanism underlying an ancient animal instinct: our appetite for sodium chloride (salt). The mechanism is hijacked by addictive compounds, such as opiates, which could help to explain patterns of drug abuse. An appetite for salt can be crucial to survival because animals with an ability to meet bodily demands for salt by rapidly consuming salty solutions are more likely to avoid predators. But little was understood about the molecular control of this process.  Now scientists from the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, and the University of Melbourne have identified, in...

OROUMIEH LAKE, Iran – From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked forlornly at hundreds of potential customers, knowing he could not take them for trips in his boat to enjoy a spring weekend on picturesque Oroumieh Lake, the third largest saltwater lake on earth. "Look, the boat is stuck... It cannot move anymore," said Saadat, gesturing to where it lay encased by solidifying salt and lamenting that he could not understand why the lake was fading away.

Which is more dangerous: dietary salt or the government’s dietary guidelines? A new study confirms some old truths. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (May 4), reports that among 3,681 study subjects followed for as long as 23 years, the cardiovascular death rate was more than 50 percent higher among those on who consumed less salt. The researchers concluded that their findings, “refute the estimates of computer model of lives saved and health care costs reduced with lower salt intake” and they do not support “the current recommendations of a generalized and indiscriminate reduction...

Australian researchers are challenging guidelines that urge diabetics to cut back on salt in their diet. In a study that seems to turn conventional wisdom on its head, they found patients with the highest levels of sodium in their urine had the smallest risk of dying over a 10-year period. "Such data call into question universal recommendations that all adults should endeavor to reduce their salt intake," Dr. Elif I. Ekinci of the University of Melbourne in Victoria and colleagues write in the journal Diabetes Care. But don't reach for the pretzels just yet. Although it isn't the first time...

Salt intake affects body's ability to simultaneously regulate blood pressure and temperatureNew research from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Kent State University shows that salt intake raises blood pressure because it makes it harder for the cardiovascular system to simultaneously juggle the regulation of blood pressure and body temperature. For decades, medical researchers have sought to understand how salt causes salt-induced high blood pressure to no avail. Some individuals, described as "salt sensitive," experience an increase in blood pressure following the ingestion of salt, whereas others, termed "salt resistant," do not. Until now, scientists have been unable...

CINCINNATI—All those salty snacks available at the local tavern might be doing more than increasing your thirst: They could also play a role in suppressing social anxiety. New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that elevated levels of sodium blunt the body's natural responses to stress by inhibiting stress hormones that would otherwise be activated in stressful situations. These hormones are located along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls reactions to stress. The research is reported in the April 6, 2011, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. "We're calling this...

Chinese seek refunds as salt panic subsides Sun Mar 20, 2:29 am ET SHANGHAI (AFP) – Chinese consumers caught up in panic salt buying in the mistaken belief it would protect against radiation from Japan's nuclear crisis are finding stores are refusing to refund their hoards of salt. Supermarkets said they were unable to refund purchases of iodised salt, citing rules that say food cannot be returned if it has no quality problems, state media reported Sunday. Panicked shoppers had set off a run on iodised salt despite government reassurances that China faced no danger from Japan's March 11 earthquake...

Stop hoarding salt, China tells radiation-scared shoppers China's economic agency told shoppers on Thursday to stop panic buying salt, blaming baseless rumours that the iodine in it can stop radiation sickness. Skip related content The Chinese government has repeatedly said the country's residents will not be exposed to radiation from a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan which engineers are frantically trying to bring under control after it was damaged by last Friday's earthquake and tsunami. But in a sign of increasing public worries about the risks, people across much of China have been buying large amounts of iodised salt, emptying...

February 5, 2011 Obama Turns Over British Nuclear Secrets to Russians Posted by Van Helsing at February 5, 2011 9:50 AM At least the WikiLeaks revelations have made it crystal clear why no one in his right mind should want an unvetted community organizer with a radical background in charge of the country, no matter how "historic" his skin color. Possibly motivated by his malignant anticolonialist ideology, the Backstabber in Chief has once again demonstrated his hatred of our closest ally (and colonizer of his ancestral homeland Kenya), this time by offering British nuclear secrets to the Russians. Information about...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is telling half of the U.S. population to drastically cut their daily salt intake. That's the advice to consumers - and the food industry - as the government issues new dietary guidelines, which are the recommendations behind the popular food pyramid. For the first time, the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which issue the guidelines every five years, are telling people who are 51 and older, all African-Americans and anyone suffering from hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease to reduce daily sodium intake to little more than half a teaspoon.

Florida bans 'bath salt' drugs after violent outburstsBy Alexia Campbell and Aaron Deslatte, Sun Sentinel 7:26 p.m. EST, January 26, 2011 TALLAHASSEE — Disturbing reports of violent drug users "with superhuman strength," pushed Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday to ban drugs sold as "bath salts." Florida is the second state, after Louisiana, to outlaw the so-called fake cocaine. The white powder, sold at gas stations and specialty shops around the state, has sent dozens of users to emergency rooms and mental hospitals in recent months, according to authorities. **SNIP** "To put it in perspective, that's right up there...

The half-gram bottle of bath salts promises an "invigorating" and "energizing" experience. But to local and federal authorities, it's another dangerous product misused as fake cocaine that's sending youths to emergency rooms and mental hospitals in Florida and across the country. As federal officials prepare to ban synthetic marijuana, specialty shops and convenience stores across Florida have started stocking up on bottles of bath salts. Louisiana and Florida authorities have linked these bath salts to at least two suicides in Louisiana, 21 calls to Florida poison control centers and dozens of hospital visits in Central and South Florida in the...

My husband bought me some of my favorite soup, Campbell's Cream of Potato. My mouth got all ready and I sipped the first spoon. I spit it back in the bowl. It tasted TERRIBLE! I thought it was spoiled. Nope. Now! With Sea Salt Added! If I wanted sea salt I'd go float in the ocean! I just discovered that they've done the same to Vegetarian Vegetable. No more Campbell's soup for me. And I wrote them to tell them where they can stick their sea salt! I don't buy Healthy Choice soups because they taste awful. So they are...

The post-World War i disarmament movement, as journalist Walter Lippmann observed in 1943, was “tragically successful in disarming the nations that believed in disarmament” (emphasis mine throughout). Those who weren’t believers, of course, were responsible for the nightmare of the Second World War. History is now repeating itself. In April, one year after his pledge in Prague to seek “a world without nuclear weapons,” U.S. President Barack Obama told the New York Times that he would not use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state, even if that nation attacked the U.S. with biological or chemical weapons. The administration’s new position...

What’s better: (A) voluntarily reducing your salt intake, or (B) having the government mandate that you do so? Naturally, if you don’t opt for A, you get B, which we can call the Bloomberg option. Why reduce salt? Well, there’s a chance—a small one, but non-zero—of exacerbating your high blood pressure, assuming you have that condition, and because of the possibility of exacerbation, you might live a slightly shorter life. Sure, this possibly shorter life you lead will be full of flavor, and the time you spend here will be more savory, but no citizen should choose quality over quantity...

I consume a politically incorrect amount of table salt. It's not often that the taste of my food cannot be enhanced by a supplemental sprinkling of this much-maligned condiment. Occasionally, my thoughts turn salty, especially when confronted by one of those elfin, formal dining table shakers. You know, the ones with the bullet-like cap and one tiny hole that defies passage except by one grain at  a time, and not without athletic effort. I much prefer something on the order of perhaps a small mason jar, maybe with a side handle. I avoid low-sodium food products like the plague. They...

Several months ago I wrote an article about the FDA’s move to regulate salt content in food in order to wean Americans from consuming unhealthy amounts of the substance. My overall point was clear – the FDA has no constitutional authority to regulate food choices despite their seemingly kindhearted attempt to help Americans. However, I received mixed feedback from that article. Some people surprisingly did not mind Big Brother stepping in and regulating their choices. To them, this was all much ado about nothing. I pose this question to that response: Is your freedom that cheap? Our Founding Fathers knew...

How many ways can you use salt? According to the Salt Institute, about 14,000! The salt website has tons of handy tips for using salt around the house, and the best of the bunch -- plus my additions -- are listed below. I can't think of another more versatile mineral. Salt is the most common and readily available nonmetallic mineral in the world. In fact, the supply of salt is inexhaustible. For thousands of years, salt (sodium chloride) has been used to preserve food and for cleaning, and people have continued to rely on it for all kinds of nifty...

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Nine out of 10 Americans eat too much salt with most of them getting more than twice the recommended amount, according to a survey by U.S. government researchers. They said an estimated 77 percent of dietary sodium comes from processed foods and restaurant foods. "Sodium has become so pervasive in our food supply that it's difficult for the vast majority of Americans to stay within recommended limits," said Janelle Peralez Gunn, public health analyst with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who led the study of salt consumption. "Public health professionals, together with food manufacturers,...

... A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that the heart risk long associated with red meat comes mostly from processed varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and cold cuts—and not from steak, hamburgers and other non-processed cuts. The finding is surprising because both types of red meat are high in saturated fat, a substance believed to be partly responsible for the increased risk of heart disease. But the new study raises the possibility that when it comes to meat, at least, the real bad actor may be salt. Processed meats generally have about four...