Is the scare on intake of table salt - sodium chloride- with confirmed evidence.?

Question

It is aired that to reduce intake of salt is beneficial, to the non-hardening of the blood vessels. How does that affect wellbeing?.

Secondly, is this a proposition by the scientists ,or has it been proven.

Answer 1

The fact that too much salt leads to hypertension in susceptable individuals is well established as medical fact. That said, not everyone has salt sensitive hypertension or high blood pressure. Salt can also be deleterious for those with congestive heart failure or kidney failure. Follow your physician's advice as they know your health history---no one on Yahoo Answers does.

Answer 2

Salt is a necessary component of the diet. The body uses salt for a variety of purposes, a good example being the breakdown of it into Na+ and Cl-. Na+ is essential for nerve impulse transmission.
The problem with salt is that we are eating far too much of it. In the west, we eat a lot of processed and fast foods that are jampacked full of salt. We then add salt!

An excess of salt in the diet causes the body to retain water to ensure that the blood and body fluids stay normal. This excess water increases our blood pressure, as there is now more "blood" in the closed system of arteries and veins. The heart has to work much harder to pump this excess fluid round the body at the same speed as it did before. This causes the arteries to harden as they cope with this extra work. Many people who eat too much salt also eat too much fat. THis can cause a condition called atherosclerosis, which is hardening of the arteries and the build up of plaques along the inner walls. High blood pressure and narrower vessels makes the situation worse, and the plaque can be broken off clogging the vessels that keep the heart alive. This is a heart attack.

Answer 3

Too much salt leads to high blood preassure - this is a well established scientific fact - "Evidence suggests that high salt intake causes left ventricular hypertrophy, a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease, independently of blood pressure effects …there is accumulating evidence that high salt intake predicts left ventricular hypertrophy." -chief medical officer of England

Too little salt is also very damaging, as sodium is one of the primary sources of electrolytes in the human diet. Without them you can become dizzy, experience hallucinations, and get severe neurological problems. However, you should still eat no more than 6g of salt a day.

Answer 4

Atherosclerosis--"hardening of blood vessels" is definitely accelerated by hypertension, which in turn is promoted by excessive salt (sodium intake). When the arteries harden, the heart has to pump blood more forcefully to overcome the increased 'peripheral resistance' offered. To this the muscles in the heart respond by enlarging (myocardial hypertrophy), which is fine for a shortwhile, but with further hypertrophy the blood vessels present within the muscles of heart (myocardium) get compressed. This may result in death of the heart muscles in case of increased oxygen demand (physical exertion, for instance), which cannot be met by the compressed arteries (MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION or "heart attack")
Also, the hardened arteries r more likely to get clogged (thrombosis). These clogs can rupture, get transported to narrower arteries and clog them too (embolization).
Atherosclerosis affects eyes (specifically, the retina) and kidneys too.
Actually, increased sodium intake directly doesn't lead to hypertension, but just that with time the kidneys stop reacting to its high level in the blood, which produces high blood pressure damaging the innermost lining of the vessels (endothelium). This physical damage is one the inducing factors for reparative responses seen in the vessel wall as atherosclerosis (which of course does harm rather than benefit).
All this is quite sufficiently proven.
Please note: I've interpreted ur question as "how hardening of blood vessels is harmful?".
Hope this satisfies u.

Answer 5

Sodium Chloride is a toxic substance to Humans, in even relatively small doses. It has been proven. A tea-spoonful of salt taken at once can kill you (don't try and prove me wrong), or you might survive it and be lucky. It is reccommended you have I think 2 grams per day, as many substances are required daily for the Human body, but not in excessive levels.

Answer 6

I've stopped using table salt for about a year and I feel great!

Answer 7

When you consume a lot of salt, your body retains more water, which increases the pressure in your tissues, thus increasing your blood pressure...which is not healthy if it gets too high.

Answer 8

there is no evidence beacuse they r the same. like salt is sodium chloride and that is the same answer as the one u had wrote down when u had asked me that question?

Answer 9

If you have got overwieight, please reduce salt, fat and oils. This will prevent Hypertension, Diabetes and Heart diseases to a certain extent.
Please see the webpages for more details on Atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries).

Answer 10

I use sea salt