YOUR STRESS LEVELS COULD BE SUPERSIZED BY TOO MUCH SALT
Due to the prevalence of processed foods, many of which are seasoned with additional salt, it is thought that the average person consumes roughly 50% more salt than they require.
All that extra salt raises the risk of heart attacks, hypertension, strokes, and vascular dementia.
Food has an impact on our emotional and mental health in ways that are less well understood than the physical effects of excess salt.
The scientists developed an experimental paradigm in which one set of mice were fed a diet heavy in salt, simulating the average human diet.
While a different group was fed a typical mouse diet with the usual level of salt.
Enhanced peak levels of plasma corticosterone, Crh, and Pomc mRNA, as well as an increased glucocorticoid response, were seen by the research team.
The "glucocorticoid biology" was found to have numerous "abnormalities," which boosted the activation of genes that make proteins in the brain that control the stress response.
It seems logical that if salt intake increases stress levels, there may also be a commensurate rise in anxiety and sadness.