salt is bad for our......brain / cognitive health? What?

A new look on salt and brain function? Less salt less brain fog?:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-new-connection-between-the-gut-and-brain?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Im a salt addict. I already eat a limited clean (tested for my blood) diet, hard to go less salt, but as I age I know I will need to limit it............sigh

Post Edited (astroman) : 12/12/2020 2:34:21 PM (GMT-7)

Eat well, exercise, die anyway.

My understanding from past reading is that only those who are hyper-responders to salt/sodium would need to worry about restricting its intake. I'm referring specifically to cardiovascular issues. I use [sea] salt quite liberally and have no blood pressure issues. Of course, I'm a sample size of one, so that's hardly "evidence."

While I have no idea of my salt/sodium intake, I'm pretty sure it's well below the 9–12 gram average cited in the article. I have trouble seeing how one could ingest such amounts, unless it's all processed food. The few canned things I do buy are beans and diced tomatoes -- and, those are either "no added salt" or "low sodium."

I would always add salt to meals, regardless of their existing sodium content. So, I decided to buy the low-/no-salt varieties of canned items and add salt just prior to eating. The amount of surface salt was more than sufficient to satisfy my salt craving. Frozen meals are some of the worst offenders for high sodium content, as are restaurant meals. I reviewed the online nutritional guides for a few restaurants and the amounts of sodium, sugar, and fat are in the stratosphere.

To get 9-12 grams of sodium, I think people would have to take soy sauce intravenously!

For fun, I looked at the Nutritional Guide for The Cheesecake Factory and found a dish named "Pasta with Shrimp and Sausage" that contains a whopping 6,930 mg of sodium!

https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/assets/pdf/nutritional_guide.pdf

This restaurant always makes lists like "Unhealthiest Chain Restaurant" and "Worst Restaurant Meals." Of course, there's the other restaurants one would expect, too, such as Applebee's, Chili's, Red Robin, etc.

The numbers for some of The Cheesecake Factory items are staggering. I noticed one of their martinis has 1,000 mg of sodium! So, a couple of martinis, an entree, a couple of side dishes, and, of course, a dessert and one could shock their system quite easily. (Their Edamame is 100 calories...with 1,560 mg of sodium.) An occasional insult like that would probably be no big deal, but, unfortunately, such indulgences aren't so rare.

Ignoring sugar, salt, and fat for a moment, God only knows what else is in some of their concoctions like drinks and desserts. I'd imagine there's thickeners, emulsifiers, artificial colors and flavors, MSG, and other chemicals to modify textures, change colors, hit the pleasure centers of the brain, and create repeat customers. My suspicion is those chemicals are also wreaking havoc with our organs, glands, hormones, etc.

Due to Coronavirus, I wonder how many people found themselves eating better and losing weight, simply due to restaurants being closed and forcing them to cook at home? From personal experience, I know it could go the other way, too. I've been known to indulge in the "occasional" bag of potato chips and cookies, during lockdown. For research purposes, of course. Anything for science.

I've not checked a packet of that seasoning, but I'm not terribly surprised by the warning. My guess is it's loaded with monosodium glutamate (MSG). Long ago, back when I was a broke and starving college student, I would eat ramen noodles. I wouldn't touch that stuff now with a 3.048 meter pole.

Further back, a friend and I would go to Popeyes Fried Chicken, each buy chicken nuggets, and each get a large order of fries. We would take the food from the paper bag, dump the fries into the bag, empty several packets of Cajun Sparkle into the bag, close the bag, and shake it to distribute the seasoning all over the hot, greasy fries. Just thinking of it now almost makes my head start hurting.

Ive heard of cheese cake factory, never seen one, I thought it was just some "yippity" cake/pie place. I wonder how other chains compare in anti-health nutrition lol. Had no idea a Martini could have 1000mg of sodium, unless adding salt to it is part of the mix (?) I figured only beers had sodium. Their main courses are pretty crazy loaded with salt and calories.

Cleaning out the bottom of my panty, finishing tossing out old gluten filled prossed snacks, soups ect. I found a Maruchan Ramen packet, sodium with chicken seasoning is 830mg (.83grams).

Has a RDA chart too- max recommended sodium is 2400mg (2.4) grams for a 2000 and 2500 calorie diet. So that 2.4 is way lower than my linked artical starting at 9 grams - but thats for salt and cardio health not this brain decline link.

For their brain issue on salt study starting at 9 grams, .....they must have strategically placed their "people standing in lab coats" offering "study money" outside chain restaurants.

agreed, was thinking same thing garzie. the controls are awful, and these clowns have gotten pretty much everything wrong when it comes to proper nutrition and nutrient intake for the last 70 years, so why should we trust them now. My faith in medicine and "science" has never been lower...

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 12/14/2020 7:20:51 AM (GMT-7)