Daily Shaarli
April 4, 2025
Salt was so important in the Ancient world that the Roman author Pliny wrote that early Roman soldiers received some of their wages in salt.
That is where we get the word salary -- meaning salt allowance.
Salt was important for curing meats, preserving foods for later in an age with no refrigeration.
But in Ancient Rome, and for most of human history, salt has also been known for its health giving effects.
It’s not until very recently that salt has been seen as something harmful -- and wacky, low-salt diets have become popular.
Pure salt is a chemical compound called sodium chloride.
The sodium part is absolutely essential for human health.
This is why people eating low-salt diets generally don’t fare well.
For example, low-salt diets cause insulin resistance in healthy people.
The human research was carried out at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The results were published in the journal Metabolism.
The renin angiotensin aldosterone system is a network in the body which is known for regulating blood pressure.
But this system of hormones and proteins also has other effects -- including some effects on insulin.
Sodium -- the most important part of salt -- is critically important to the healthy functioning of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system.
Theoretically, a low-salt diet could cause insulin resistance by causing imbalances to this system.
“Low-salt diets activate the renin angiotensin aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems, both of which can increase insulin resistance.”
So this study was set up to see whether a low salt diet was enough to cause insulin resistance in healthy people.
The researchers recruited over 150 people for the study. The cohort included men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 years old.
All the participants went through two different experiments.
Experiment 1 consisted of living on a low salt diet for a week.
The second experiment was that of a high salt diet for the same time period.
People produced more aldosterone and other stress hormones when they didn’t get enough salt.
Insulin resistance was tested by “the homeostasis model assessment.”
This is the standard way to assess insulin resistance -- it involves multiple tests combined to give a final score.
Higher scores on this test mean insulin resistance.
The low-salt diet caused insulin resistance.
“Scores of insulin resistance were significantly higher on a high salt diet compared with the low-salt diet.”
The researchers wondered whether there could be other factors affecting the result -- these days scientists are very sceptical of results which show salt in a good light.
So they plugged in numerous other factors to their calculations. These other factors were things which could also affect insulin resistance.
After taking into account every risk factor they could think of -- the researchers found that the low salt diet still caused insulin resistance.
“The low-salt diet was significantly associated with insulin resistance independent of age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index, serum sodium and potassium, serum angiotensin II, plasma renin activity, serum and urine aldosterone, and urine epinephrine and norepinephrine.”
Try as they might, they couldn’t explain the findings away.
A low salt diet causes insulin resistance in healthy people.
“The low-salt diet is associated with an increase in insulin resistance. The impact of these findings on diabetes and cardiovascular disease needs further investigation.”
The war on salt is one of the greatest mistakes of the medical and nutritional establishment of the last 100 years.
Sodium is an essential mineral for human health.
And it’s one which is almost impossible to get enough of without consuming sodium chloride -- table salt.
Most people should be using more salt, not less.
You should always consult a healthcare practitioner about treating and diagnosing health-related problems.
This 1 supplement can reverse diabetes symptoms in men
Matt Cook here, and I’m always looking for natural supplements that can benefit men.
And nicotinamide riboside is a supplement which is gaining more and more of my interest.
It’s a substance which helps the body to generate energy more efficiently.
It works in a very similar way to a more common form of vitamin B3 called niacinamide.
Recent articles have been published showing that this supplement could help with Parkinson’s disease, alcoholic liver damage, and numerous metabolic health problems.
And because it improves our energy production, it can play a massive role in metabolic health.
Recent animal experiments have shown that nicotinamide riboside can help with diabetes…
…as well as many of the complications associated with that metabolic disorder.
The research was carried out at Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa. The findings were published in Nature Research Scientific Reports.
This research was carried out on rodents.
There are 2 ways in which lab animals are given type II diabetes or prediabetes.
One is using a chemical called streptozotocin, the other involves feeding the animals a high-fat diet.
Both methods produce many of the diabetes associated complications – including peripheral neuropathy.
“Mice fed on a high-fat diet become diabetic and develop insulin resistance and neuropathy. Given streptozotocin they develop type II diabetes, hyperglycaemia, severe insulin resistance and neuropathy.”
Nicotinamide riboside has the ability to increase the body’s production of something called NAD+.
NAD + is one of the most essential elements for optimal energy production.
“Because NAD + might address glycaemic control and be neuroprotective, we treated prediabetic and type II diabetic mice with nicotinamide riboside added to a high-fat diet.”
The speculation was correct, there was a whole host of benefits for these animals given nicotinamide riboside.
When prediabetic animals were fed a high-fat diet…
Blood sugar improved.
They gained less weight.
Diabetic liver damage was reduced - including hepatic steatosis.
Neuropathy was reduced or prevented.
“Nicotinamide riboside improves glucose tolerance, reduced weight gain, liver damage and the development of hepatic steatosis in prediabetic mice while protecting against sensory neuropathy.”
The researchers found similar benefits in the other mice.
Those mice were fully diabetic after having been given the toxic chemical streptozotocin.
Researchers discovered nicotinamide riboside…
Reduce blood sugar.
Reduced weight gain.
Reduced liver damage including hepatic steatosis.
Protected against diabetic neuropathy.
“In type II diabetic mice, nicotinamide riboside greatly reduced non-fasting and fasting blood glucose, weight gain and hepatic steatosis while protecting against diabetic neuropathy.”
The researchers were surprised at the extent of the benefits provided by the supplement.
They suspected they might see some benefits due to the fact that nicotinamide riboside is known to help with blood sugar control.
But the extent of the benefits – improving almost every complication of type II diabetes of type II diabetes and prediabetes – was quite a surprise.
“The protective effect of nicotinamide riboside could not be explained by glycaemic control alone.”
The researchers carried out a detailed examination of the cornea of the animals.
The cornea is a structure in the eye which could be considered part of the brain or nervous system.
It’s an easy way to assess the health of the nervous system overall.
Damage to the corneal structure is a very good indicator of neurodegeneration – damage to the brain and central nervous system.
The researchers found a remarkable protective effect from nicotinamide riboside on the corneal structure.
This indicates that the supplement protects against neurodegeneration, brain and central nervous system problems, induced by diabetes.
The researchers also looked for changes in NAD+ and related pro-energetic compounds. (NADP+ and NADPH)
As expected, nicotinamide riboside boosted these energetic compounds which are depleted by diabetes.
“NADP+ and NADPH levels were degraded in diabetes but were largely protected when mice were supplemented with nicotinamide riboside.”
Nicotinamide riboside could have massive benefits for people with diabetes because it helps the body to generate energy more efficiently.
“The data justifies testing of nicotinamide riboside in human models of obesity, type II diabetes and associated neuropathies.”
The supplement works in ways similar to a number of other supplements on the market.
This includes nicotinamide mononucleotide and the less exotic (and less expensive) niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3).