![]() So it becomes really critical to understand how all of these different systems work. HAMILTON: Chaudhari says too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.ĬHAUDHARI: Salt ingestion is a major issue. So we think of sodium chloride - table salt - as so plentiful in our diet and in our environment but it wasn't always. NIRUPA CHAUDHARI: Wars were fought over salt just a few centuries ago. Nirupa Chaudhari of the University of Miami says we tend to eat too much salt because evolution prepared our bodies for a world in which salt is scarce. HAMILTON: Answering that question might make it possible to develop a prostaglandin drug to discourage salt overconsumption. LIBERLES: So the question is, how is the same chemical, the same prostaglandin molecule re-used across biological systems in different contexts? Liberles says it now appears that prostaglandins also play a role in salt tolerance. These substances, which circulate in the bloodstream, are best known for their role in causing inflammation, fever and pain. HAMILTON: The new study suggests that brain cells involved in salt tolerance are controlled by hormone-like substances called prostaglandins. STEPHEN LIBERLES: The brain also receives tons of sensory information from the body, from the heart, the lungs, the stomach, the intestine, and how these work has remained more mysterious. Stephen Liberles, a cell biologist at Harvard Medical School, says scientists already know a lot about how the brain deals with sensory information coming from the eyes, ears, nose and skin. It deals with internal sensations like hunger and pain. HAMILTON: The finding, which appears in the journal Cell, is part of a growing field of study called interoception. OKA: This means that the sodium craving and the sodium tolerance are controlled by completely different types of neurons. HAMILTON: Another group of neurons toward the front of the brain normally sets an upper limit on salt tolerance, but when salt levels get low enough, Oka says, these neurons get switched off. OKA: If you stimulate these neurons, then animals run to sodium source and then start eating. They showed that one set of neurons toward the back of the brain regulates the craving for salt. Oka wanted to know how this system works in the brain, so he and a team of scientists studied mice. HAMILTON: They crave sodium, and they can tolerate it in high concentrations they would normally avoid. OKA: If your body needs sodium, then animals immediately start liking ocean water. But Oka says experiments with animals show that when salt levels plummet, the tolerance for salty water goes up. HAMILTON: Unless your body is really low on salt. YUKI OKA: You enjoy low sodium water, but if you imagine very high concentration of sodium like ocean water, you really hate it. Yuki Oka, a scientist at Caltech, says sodas, sports drinks and even tap water all contain a little salt, also known as sodium chloride. JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: Our relationship with salt is complicated. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on a study that found two separate brain circuits that influence our taste for salt. Requires Journal-News login to access content.Food and drinks that are really salty can be appealing one day and off-putting the next. Available for Kindle, NOOK and Android directly from the Journal-News. If you would like to subscribe to print and digital offers please go to /subscribe. Here you will set up your account and get access to digital products included with your subscription. If you are a newspaper subscriber and do not know your login or still need to register your account, please go to /activate. Newspaper subscribers may use their subscriber login. How to access: When you first open the Today’s Paper app, you will be asked to enter a user name and login. Reader-friendly format and adjustable font size.Easy to share stories by email, Facebook and Twitter.Updated breaking news and top stories of the day.Organized and easy to use, with multiple ways to view each section, plus a table of contents.Works on tablets including iPad®, Android™, Kindle™ and Nook™ plus smartphones, laptops and desktops. Page through each section, just like the printed paper. Total access to the day's newspaper – all news stories and ads plus the comics, obituaries and more. ![]()
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