I’ve previously read articles/papers (skimmed/abstracts - I can’t understand the technical bits!) stating that salt aggravates autoimmune diseases so I’ve been avoiding it for quite a while. Last year my neurologist also told me to avoid salt so I’ve avoided it even more. Last week a few articles came out reporting on research linking high salt diets to cognitive decline (in mice at least), such as https://health.spectator.co.uk/high-salt-diet-increases-the-risk-of-cognitive-decline-and-dementia/.
They suggest that it’s because of salt triggering a TH17 response, which (from what I understand) causes inflammation. If it’s this that causes salt to be an issue in autoimmune diseases then does this give any weight to diets such as the overcomingms diet? From what I’ve read from researching on Google saturated fat (a major part of OMS avoidance) also triggers a TH17 response, although I don’t have a good understanding of to what degree.
If it is the TH17 response that causes issues with salt then surely it’d make sense to also avoid saturated fat? I’m just looking for opinions on all of this, most papers get technical fast so they’re quite hard reading for me.
During the study, researchers fed mice a diet high in salt. The mice on a high salt diet struggled to navigate a maze that tested their ability to find an escape hole. They were also less capable of building a nest.
The effects of a salty diet were reversed in mice after four weeks. Brain scans showed blood flow and endothelial function were healthy again by this point.
If my MS suddenly went away after four weeks of a low salt diet then I might get excited by this research.
Exercise makes us sweat and I think that sweating is a way of getting salt out of the body - might this be the reason why exercise is supposedly beneficial?
On the question of saturated fats, the Swank diet recommends keeping your daily intake to 15 grams or below. I restrict my intake to coconut oil and carefully sourced palm oil. My diet is mainly vegan, occasionally supplemented with oily fish such as mackerel.
I am sure you are familiar with site but here it is anyway.
During the study, researchers fed mice a diet high in salt. The mice on a high salt diet struggled to navigate a maze that tested their ability to find an escape hole. They were also less capable of building a nest.
The effects of a salty diet were reversed in mice after four weeks. Brain scans showed blood flow and endothelial function were healthy again by this point.
If my MS suddenly went away after four weeks of a low salt diet then I might get excited by this research.
Yeah I get what you’re saying. Although, increased inflammation for even a short term could be pretty bad for MS couldn’t it?
Alun - thanks for the link, I do actually mostly follow the OMS diet anyway but I frequently find myself asking if I’m just making life harder for myself for no reason. This is why I thought that the th17 link was interesting.
Salt, saturated fat and sugar are all known to be bad for general health, regardless of MS, so why eat it? Stick with fresh food and your body will be very grateful.
I think it might be worth chipping in with something in favour of salt. While avoiding a high salt diet is good, there are also dangers of having too little sodium (which we get from salt). It’s important for proper muscle and nerve function. It also helps maintain stable blood pressure levels. Symptoms of low sodium levels include weakness, fatigue and muscle spasms.
Of course,this is only an issue if a blood test shows you’ve got low sodium (which, out, I do). So yes, avoid salt. But it’s worth bearing in mind you can go too far the other way.