Salty Food May Be a Culprit in Autoimmune Diseases

For decades, doctors have been admonishing us to cut back on salt to reduce the odds of a heart attack or stroke. Now, there may be a new reason to avoid the seasoning: Studies on rodents and cultured cells, reported today, reveal that dietary salt might promote autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease.

The studies "have done a wonderful job of pushing the knowledge forward and exploring something that is potentially clinically important," says immunologist David Fox of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, who wasn't involved in the research. Daniel Cua, an immunologist at Merck Research Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, concurs. The work "is really well done with a lot of mechanistic understanding."

The findings suggest that salt spurs the specialization of T_H17 cells. Although these immune cells protect us from harmful bacteria and fungi, they have also been implicated in illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis. T_H17 cells mature from unspecialized T cells, and, depending on their influences, they can become beneficial or destructive.

Researchers converged on the results from different directions. Immunobiologist David Hafler of the Yale School of Medicine and colleagues found that people who admitted to eating a lot of fast food harbored more T_H17 cells. One ingredient that fast food contains in prodigious amounts is salt. To determine whether salt accounted for the surfeit of T_H17 cells, Hafler and colleagues spiked cultures of unspecialized T cells with sodium chloride. "The results were perhaps among the most dramatic of my career as a research scientist," he says. Modestly raising salt concentrations, mimicking the levels in the tissues of an animal eating a high-salt diet, boosted the number of T_H17 cells that matured in the cultures nearly 10 times. And these T_H17 cells started making inflammation-provoking molecules, indicating that they'd become the harmful variety.

The scientists next tested whether this ominous effect occurred in animals. They prompted mice to develop experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a neurological illness similar to multiple sclerosis that is fostered by "bad" T_H17 cells. They fed some of the rodents meals that contained about as much salt as a typical Western diet. Compared with animals that lived on low-salt food, mice that munched high-salt chow developed EAE sooner and had more severe symptoms, the team reports in Nature.

Working independently from Hafler's group, computational biologist Aviv Regev of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts; immunologist Vijay Kuchroo of Harvard Medical School in Boston; and colleagues also hit upon a link between salt and autoimmunity. They tracked gene activity over the 3-day maturation period of a T_H17 cell and revealed the molecular circuit that controls the process. One of the most influential genes in this network wasSGK1, and it has a salt connection, helping cells manage sodium levels. Using T cell cultures, the team found that salt promotes the specialization of T_H17 cells through SGK1.

Sodium levels are higher in the fluids of the body's tissues, where T_H17 cells battle pathogens, than in the bloodstream. T_H17 cells' sensitivity to salt may be adaptive under normal conditions, ensuring that they turn on in the right place. "You don't want T cells activated in the peripheral blood," Hafler says. "You want them to be activated when they go into the tissues."

But increasing salt levels by eating a lot of salty food might mean trouble. The medical implications of the findings could be profound, notes human geneticist Judy Cho of the Yale School of Medicine, who wasn't involved in the research. For example, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes have become more prevalent in recent decades, and "a massive increase in salt intake could easily explain this."

Researchers now need to confirm that salt is a factor in human autoimmune diseases, says immunologist John O'Shea of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. People should not assume that the link is "a done deal" in humans. Scientists are ready to find out, Kuchroo says. "The stage is set to do precise experiments to test the hypothesis."

I don’t think it’s vaccines. Almost 100% of the population was immunized in the 50’s through the 70’s, if that was the issue, these problems would be far more prevalent.

I’m thinking more in line with tick borne diseases like Lymes

or this http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/06/red-meat-allergy-likely-caused-by-tick-bites/#.UTrJ4hzvsQI

or this

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20120829/new-tick-borne-disease-heartland-virus

Not that all of is tick or insect born, but the fact is, there are millions of bacteria and viruses out there, unknown and unidentified and trying to kill us.

I think Alzheimer’s might be tied to oral spirochetes and poor dental hygeine.

There have been may studies linking phosphates and nitrites to disease, including linking phosphates to blood cancers. In fact, it has been all over the net, lately.

As for the bleaching, I used a generic term and I should have been more detailed. Table is created through vacuum pan evaporation. This, basically removes all the other minerals located within the brine, thus changing the polarity of the salt and “bleaching” it white. (All you have left is sodium chloride) This change in polarity seems to be very incompatible with our sodium/potassium pump and increased the chance of high blood pressure in certain individuals.

Table salt also contains fillers such as calcium silicate and dextrose.

I will send you links to research, personally if you would like.

Nitrites, phosphates and glutamate are used in flavoring and packaged meats and other foods. Unbound glutamate acts as a neurotoxin. It also, in excess inhibits the bodies production of cysteine and glutathione. The body uses cysteine to make glutathione and taurine. Even lifters that use l-glutamine to aid recovery, should cycle it to prevent toxicity. Excess glutamate has been shown to increase chances of acquiring cancers and has shown to reduce survival outcomes. Phosphates have been linked to cancer, as well.

You know, sometimes our actions have consequences and our health is no exception. I do not know why this conservative site has so many members that turn a blind eye to the fact that we are to blame for the cost of health care. These changes in our food supply over the last 4-5 decades have result in the modern syndrome, immune suppression, depression, high blood pressure, joint pain and others. We can change these outcomes, if choose, more wisely as to what we put into our bodies.

In Great Health,

Nitrites, phosphates and glutamate are used in flavoring and packaged meats and other foods.

In an earlier post you said that nitrites, phosphates, and MSG were used as flavorings. They are not....and you are still wrong with the statement above. Nitrites are used primarily in meats to create an environment unattractive to bacteria. Phosphates have a multitude of applications in food, but I've never seen them used as flavorings. Leavening, maintaining protein dispersion, calcium and phosphorus fortification, emulsifying action, color stability, pH adjustment, moisture binding, etc. are all uses of phosphates in food -- but no flavoring.

MSG is used most commonly as a flavor enhancer. It is not a flavoring. The fear of sodium nitrate, phosphates and MSG are totally unfounded and unsupported by legitimate science. That fact hasn't stopped the chemicalphobes, however, from doing what they do best.

Unbound glutamate acts as a neurotoxin.

This is unmitigated BS. Of course, if you eat MSG by the bucketload, all sorts of bad things could happen to you....just like if you drink too much water. But water is good for you, right?

Excess glutamate has been shown to increase chances of acquiring cancers and has shown to reduce survival outcomes.

More crapola. Your central nervous system cannot function without glutamate. Most people have about 4 lbs. of glutamate in their body at any given time. Your body produces glutamate naturally. You need to find sources for information where the authors actually have some training in chemistry, biology and human physiology.

Phosphates have been linked to cancer, as well.

Pretty scary, huh? Foods you eat every day contain chemicals that are known carcinogens. They occur naturally but don't impact your health in those minuscule amounts. If you overwhelm the body with just about anything, bad things can happen, including cancer. But I don't know of any people shoveling huge spoonfuls of phosphates down their throats, do you?

These changes in our food supply over the last 4-5 decades have result in the modern syndrome, immune suppression, depression, high blood pressure, joint pain and others.

As I've said on a regular basis here, people fear the things they don't understand. You are no different. If you base your opinions on emotion, you end up with comments like yours. Fortunately, there are enough people out there who base their decisions on sound science so our food supply becomes safer and safer. That's just one of many reasons why we are living longer and healthier lives than at any other time in human history. Bummer, huh?

Before refrigeration, food stabilization was by salt. Were these diseases prevalent hundreds or thousands of years ago?

Did medical science even KNOW how to diagnose those diseases years ago?

I'm not sure they did. Ankylosing Spondylitis (a genetic borne disease I have) has been around for thousands of years, it's only recently (as in the last 20-30 years) been determined to be genetic in nature and have it's roots in T-Cell (TNF)factor.

Speculation is that the Neanderthal's originally had it, and it found its way into Northern/Northeastern European bloodlines as evidenced by hunched backs and necks, over-sized knuckles later in life, and other joint destruction such as hips, knees and even jawlines. (pronounced jawlines for example.) Of course, the Neanderthal's didn't have refrigeration, and the European's cured meat and preserved food with salt so there may be some link?

Dunno, speculation on my part.

Unbound glutamate acts as a neurotoxin.

This is unmitigated BS. Of course, if you eat MSG by the bucketload, all sorts of bad things could happen to you....just like if you drink too much water. But water is good for you, right?

Too bad you do not know what you are talking about. My wife gets 3 day migraines if she eats foods with MSG and any of its re-named compounds like Autolyzed yeast, and Yeast extract. Her tolerance is so low, she can eat four flavored tortilla chips, but 6 will give her the headaches. This we discovered 20 years ago and it is as predicatable as the sunrise. We take more than an hour to shop, reading every label. Me? MSG does not seem to effect me at all.

Just like any other food, such as peanuts, some people are allergic or have almost no tolerance. Nice that you proclaim BS, when some people react. I know a man personally who gets the shakes like MS after consuming MSG. If he avoids it he never has an attack, but have a single cup of broth (for example) and it is two days of symptoms.

My wife gets 3 day migraines if she eats foods with MSG

The glutamate that is added to food as a flavor enhancer is exactly the same as the glutamate that is found naturally in cheese, meat, seafood, and vegetables. Your body treats glutamate from these different sources in exactly the same way. If your wife gets headaches from foods with added MSG, then she should also get them from eating tomatoes, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and any other food high in glutamate.

...and any of its re-named compounds like Autolyzed yeast, and Yeast extract.

Renamed compounds? That makes no sense whatsoever. Autolyzed yeast is autolyzed yeast, and yeast extract is yeast extract. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

We take more than an hour to shop, reading every label.

How do you manage to avoid the foods where glutamate occurs naturally? What in the world do you eat? It's a fact that the average diet delivers 10 times more glutamate from naturally occurring sources than is derived from added sources. That being the case, and glutamate being responsible for your wife's migraines, she should be spending her entire life in a dark room pounding down triptans. She does have a blood brain barrier, right?

Just like any other food, such as peanuts, some people are allergic or have almost no tolerance.

Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but this is also unmitigated BS, just like the other poster was offering. Allergic reactions are normally caused by large molecules, like proteins. MSG is a small molecule that has never been shown to cause an IgE response.

Again, if MSG causes all the things you say it does, these same reactions would also come from consuming foods where glutamate occurs naturally. Since they don't, I'd say your correlations are all wrong. But since your conclusions are based on emotion rather than science, I'll place you in the same category as the other guy in this thread who doesn't know what he's talking about. Not to worry, though, you have lots of company.

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