>immune signals sent from the gut can compromise the brain’s blood vessels<p>This is known, Rhonda Patrick talks about it on Joe Rogan (I can hear you groaning).<p>What confuses me is that this ties new research to old, outdated research (the old wisdom that salt leads to high blood pressure). No sources, but latest studies show excess salt is not harmful in healthy people.
I find I consume more salt at times after intensive sport (semi-marathons, swimming). It looks my body naturally requires more salt to restore itself. So the advice to consume less salt should not be generalized.
The gut brain axis is a new and exciting field of research. Here's an educational animation showing the pathways that make these connections possible: <a href="http://mmm.hsiao.science" rel="nofollow">http://mmm.hsiao.science</a>
Research is here: <a href="https://twin.sci-hub.se/6638/a9852778fa43b8bb70b67ce5abc71d7e/faraco2018.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://twin.sci-hub.se/6638/a9852778fa43b8bb70b67ce5abc71d7...</a>
Phrenology: "Show me your head and I tell you who you are".<p>Gut bacteria frenzy: "Show me your bowels and I tell you who you are".
The discussion on this piece is quite alarming. From general distrust of doctors, to thinking people can research themselves into knowing better, to slights about animal studies not being effective arbiters to humans.<p>No wonder there's so much BS in the medical industry. Too many non-doctors with an opinion.
Anecdotal thought: I have noticed that I feel angry after eating bread. Sounds goofy, but I realized that it wasn't the caffeine from coffee and it wasn't me "not being a morning person". Recognizing this has helped my relationships a surprising amount.
So, a few thoughts from a person with a condition that significantly impacts how my body processes salt:<p>1. After years of pursuing diet and lifestyle approaches to managing my condition and reading up on health stuff generally (and talking to people with PhDs in topics like Chemistry and Biology), I concluded that the circulatory system is the means by which all of the body interacts with all other parts of the body. So if one thing is out of whack in one part of the body, the primary way it impacts some other part of the body is by way of how it impacts blood health. At this point, I think this should be viewed as a kind of "Biology 101" thing and I'm not very impressed with dramatic pronouncements that the gut impacts blood vessel health in the brain, <i>le gasp</i>. To me, that's kind of "Well, duh!"<p>2. The body uses various molecules in conjunction with various others, so one of the things you see is that adding more of X by itself will naturally cause chemical derangement. Salt in particular works in conjunction with a number of other minerals and the natural source of salt -- the sea -- contains a variety of other minerals. "Table salt" is not how nature supplies us with salt. It is, itself, chemically deranged from the get go and very much on purpose.<p>One of the things they put in table salt is a chemical to make it pour easier. We assume this chemical is harmless, but I'm not aware of any actual studies on what it does to the body, especially not if you start consuming a lot more of it than "normal". So if you are consuming a lot of table salt, you are likely consuming other things that aren't normal while not getting the variety of minerals found in ocean water. I found high quality sea salts that had that variety of minerals to be highly helpful in regulating my body's relationship to salt. Getting more salt helped me, but only if it was accompanied by the right minerals, the right carbs and the right fats. It took some experimenting to find the right combo.<p>3. About 70 to 80 percent of the immune cells in the body are found in the gut. So, your gut is a primary part of your immune function. It really should be no surprise at all that what you eat impacts immune function.<p>4. I found it enormously helpful to read up on Altitude Sickness. This was a huge Aha! moment for me that makes it clear how the blood connects different organs.<p>You begin peeing at altitude well before you are at any risk of suffering Altitude Sickness because the thin air means you can't breathe out as much blood gas wastes as you normally would, so your body starts shunting the excess blood gas wastes through the kidneys to get rid of them. This has other consequences, such as dragging salt and other electrolytes out with it. So you need not only more fluids at altitude, but also more electrolytes as well. Heat waves above 105F and hiking at altitude are about the only time I consume Gatorade.