HIGH SALT INTAKE DELAYS PUBERTY

A study presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin shows that high salt intake may delay puberty. 

A group of researchers from University of Wyoming, USA led by Ms Dori Pitynski are looking into the relationship between various levels of salt in rats' diet and the onset of their puberty. The study discovered that rats fed diet rich in salt (equivalent to 3 or 4 times the recommended daily allowance for humans) demonstrated delay in reaching puberty compared to the group that fed a normal (low) salt diet. After conducting this research, Ms Pitynski and colleagues have reached the consensus that salt intake is essential for the onset of puberty, however that extreme intake can affect reproductive health that might cause behavioural problems, stress and reduced fertility.

"Our work shows that high levels of fat and salt have opposite effects reproductive health" informed Ms Pitynski. "High fat diet is thought to accelerate the onset of puberty but our work demonstrates that rats fed a high salt diet even with a high fat diet will still show a delay in puberty onset."

"Current salt-loading in Western populations has the potential to drastically affect reproductive health, and warrants further attention" said Ms Pitynski.

Source: sciencedaily.com