Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that high salt intake leads to increased stress. The scientists’ work was published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.
The team did an experiment with mice: the scientists fed two groups of male mice — the first for two weeks, the second for eight weeks — on a high-salt diet.
The researchers then analyzed blood samples from the mice. They found that levels of the stress hormone cortisol were higher in experimental mice compared to the control group. In addition, the hormone level was higher both at rest and under stress. The scientists also took tissue samples from the brains of some mice after they died and analyzed them. They found increased activity in the genes that produce the proteins responsible for the stress response in the brain.
According to the researchers, this effect caused by the increased use of salt can be observed in humans. In the future, scientists will continue to study the effect of salt on the bodies of animals.