Abstract
ABSTRACTAlthough sea salts are widely available to consumers nowadays, whether its consumption over refined salt has any real health benefits is largely unknown. This study was conducted to compare hypertension-inducing propensity of natural sea salt (SS) to refined salt (RS) in a well-established animal model of hypertension. Five groups of male Dahl salt-sensitive rats were fed rat chow diet supplemented with various amounts of salt for 15 weeks. The groups were: control (CON, n = 10), 4% RS (RS4), 4% SS (SS4), 8% RS (RS8), 8% SS (SS8) (n = 12 for each group). After 15 weeks, both SS4 and SS8 groups had significantly lower systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) compared to RS4 and RS8 rats, respectively. RS8 rats had markedly higher SBP and DBP compared to all other groups. Echocardiography just prior to sacrifice showed abnormalities in RS4, SS8 and RS8 hearts, while CON and SS4 hearts displayed normal measurements. Plasma renin and aldosterone levels of high salt groups were lower than those of CON, and serum electrolytes were similar amongst all groups. Abnormal kidney pathology and high glomerulosclerosis index scores were seen in RS4 and RS8 rats, but SS4 and SS8 kidneys showed relatively normal morphology similar to CON kidneys. Our findings show that consumption of natural sea salt induces less hypertension compared to refined salt in the Dahl salt-sensitive rat.
Highlights
Hypertension, a physiological state in which the blood pressure is maintained at a high level for prolonged periods of time, is the most representative disease of cardiovascular diseases
As excessive ingestion of salt can lead to high blood pressure, which is related to cardiovascular disease and arterial vascular changes, regulation of dietary salt intake is very important
Body weight gain of CON, SS4, and RS4 groups did not differ, but that of RS8 group (3.68 ± 0.85 g) was the lowest followed by SS8 group (4.65 ± 0.69 g)
Summary
Hypertension, a physiological state in which the blood pressure is maintained at a high level for prolonged periods of time, is the most representative disease of cardiovascular diseases. It is well known that uncontrolled hypertension contributes to various cardiovascular and other conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease and renal insufficiency [1]. As excessive ingestion of salt can lead to high blood pressure, which is related to cardiovascular disease and arterial vascular changes, regulation of dietary salt intake is very important. Excessive sodium intake from food sources in close relations to diet and lifestyle is a strong risk factor for hypertension, since the majority of people with hypertension are sensitive to salt intake. Other risk factors including obesity, diabetes, insufficient intake of potassium, calcium, and magnesium, lack of physical activity, and chronic alcohol consumption play important roles as well [3]
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