Salty Foods Are Better For Keeping The Body Hydrated

Video: Salty Foods Are Better For Keeping The Body Hydrated

Video: Salty Foods Are Better For Keeping The Body Hydrated
Video: Body Hydration: The Key to Improved Performance, Health, and Life | Chris Gintz | TEDxHiltonHead 2024, November
Salty Foods Are Better For Keeping The Body Hydrated
Salty Foods Are Better For Keeping The Body Hydrated
Anonim

We all know that we are thirsty for salty foods. Sounds logical, but is it true? Not according to a new international study. The new theory is by a group of scientists who studied how long-term human isolation affects. Their work was connected in the mission prepared by NASA to Mars.

A group of astronauts have been isolated for a year at a base with conditions close to those that will be in the shuttle to launch to the Red Planet. Along with dozens of other studies, the researchers observed monitored the volunteers' salt intake and hydration levels.

During this observation, the experts came to unexpected conclusions, namely that highly spicy food quenches thirst, which makes astronauts more hydrated and energetic.

The study is the first long-term study to analyze the relationship between diet and fluid intake habits. The study involved 10 male astronauts. They were divided into two groups.

The first remained in isolation for 105 days and the second for 205. Both groups had the same diets, except that for periods of several weeks they were given meals with different levels of salt.

The analysis of the data confirmed without surprise that salt consumption leads to higher levels of salt in the urine. There was also no surprise in the ratio of salt to total urine.

Salty cookies
Salty cookies

However, the increase was not due to more drinking water. It turned out that a salty diet leads to less drinking. Salt triggers a mechanism to protect the water in the kidneys.

Prior to the study, the prevailing hypothesis was that the charged sodium and chloride ions in the salt were attached to the water molecules and introduced into the urine. However, the new results show something completely different - salt remains in the urine, while water is returned to the kidneys and body.

The new findings completely change the way scientists thought about the process by which the body achieves water homeostasis - maintaining the right amount and balance. This will change the way astronauts prepare for their space travel, according to the scientific team.

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