A new study has found that dietary salt can defend the body against invading microbes.
Raised sodium levels boost the immune system and fight off germs.
According to findings by German researchers published in Journal Cell Metabolism, it is widely known that eating too much salt may increase the risk of heart disease and strokes, but it can also protect against skin infection.
Scientists says a high salt diet causes sodium level to build up in the skin, boosting the immune system to fight off the germs that cause bacterial skin infections.
Professor Jonathan Jantsch, of the University of Regensburg, said:" up to now,salt has been regarded as a detrimental dietary factor; it is clearly known to be detrimental for cardiovascular diseases,and recent studies have implicated a role in worsening autoimmune diseases. Our current study challenges this one-sided view and suggests that increasing salt accumulation at the site of infection might be an ancient strategy to ward off infections, long before antibiotics were invented."
"Despite the overwhelming evidence linking dietary salt to disease in humans, the potential evolutionary advantage of storing so much salt in the body has not been clear", Professor Jens Titze from Vanderbilt University added.
High levels of sodium stored in the skin, especially in the elderly, can lead to high blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and strokes, worsen autoimmune disease and even increase the risk of stomach cancer.
Professor Jantsch stated "we also think that local application of high-salt-containing would dressings and the development of other sat-boosting antimicrobial therapies might bear therapeutic potential".
Jantsch, however, warned that people should not rush off and start a high-salt diet as their data does not justify recommendations on high dietary salt in the general population.
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