Salt

[Blue-Bunny]

Hi folks me again, this time with a BBC Article... (at the bottom)

I do not profess to know absolutely anything about scleroderma and I would like to assure people that I am not trying to persuade them to do this that or the other. I am learning as I go purely for curiosity...with the disclaimer out of the way.

From what I have learned so far about Scleroderma, is that it is something of an Auto Immune Disease... which uh... I always thought stood for Aids...but I'm not quite right in my definitions. Though they are both Auto Immune Diseases that's the only similarity ( so far as I can tell ) my point is however is that an Auto Immune Disease attacks the host. Auto coming from greek to refer to 'Self'. Which is never a good thing.

Now, I recently found a BBC Article that indicates that it has found research that suggests those who consume too much salt are more at risk of acquiring auto immune problems.

I highly suspect that a food health organisation is behind this and pushing to lower salt content what with a recent spate of salt negative articles across the bbc as of late. A decrease in salt levels is always good, but I would like to remind people that cutting salt out of your diet is a death sentence (and I don't take that word lightly). It's required by the body and surprisingly hard to get a hold of. (Edit: When I say get a hold of... I mean it doesn't occur that often in most component foods, it's reallllly easy to your hands on just by eating any processed food. Bread and Pasta are processed foods but I count them as staples so they don't count here)

That said, too much of a good thing and all that. When looking at different foods, you should be aiming for either frozen or fresh and preferably component foods...so frozen broccoli or a tray of fresh apples. This will help regulate the amount of nutrients in your body at any one time. Foods like pasta or bread will provide the salt content for you. If you make everything yourself, you might find yourself having to add more salt into your diet as there can be harsh side effects for those on minimum salt diets.

If you have scleroderma but maybe haven't thought of this yet, why not try cutting out as many processed foods as possible and seeing whether it improves your condition or not. Oh yeah and eating out...that counts as processed food unfortunately even if it's a salad ( the McD's Cesar Salad contains twice as much salt as any other dish). Certain drinks also contain salt or rather specific types of salts...(McD's milkshakes for example...).

If it does work, I don't know whether you would have to keep a low salt diet or not, but it'd probably be wise if you stayed around about the recommended safety limit!

Let us know how you get on.

And, since there's a huge comment space at the bottom, why not just discuss away

BBC Article - bbc.co.uk/news/health-21685022

Nature Journal - nature.com/nature/journal/v...

RSC (Salt ) - rsc.org/get-involved/hot-to...

Extra Disclaimer: Less Salt is good for you, no salt is bad for you... but then again I'm not a health professional and I don't know whether it will do anything for Scleroderma or not, it can't hurt surely? Anyway, take the advice at your own leisure it should save you some money.

[queen]

Hi Ravenhead

Over the last 15-20 years I have tried to eat health, cooking my own food, eating organic produce, exercising, supplement, less sugar and salt, no process food as I could not stand the taste you get the picture. So you could imagine to my surprise when I was told that I had scleroderma something I have never heard of before. This all started with swollen fingers which I had notice of over a year put it down to getting older. Only when a friend notice that my finger was not dainty any longer (as she put it) did manage to go see my GP. Within two years I now have progressive lung disease and just started chemotherapy treatment to slow the process down. So I would say everything in moderation and listen to your body.

[overnighthearingloss]

You are correct that scleroderma is an auto-immune disease. But different to Aids in that with Aids the immune system fails. In the case of auto-immune something causes the immune system to be over active. It keeps looking for something to kill off after infections have been cleared and then it starts to attack the good bits.

Thats why drugs are given to depress the immune reaction.

There are a huge number of auto-immune related conditions. Diabeties is another.

If only they could find what is the trigger.

Its necessary to watch your salt intake in any case. But for those who have kidney impairment, it becomes essential. I do try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I do think that its important what you put into your body and a good diet certainly will not cause problems but I believe that a bad diet will.

[EmJB]

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome not Auto immune disease by the way

[Blue-Bunny in reply to EmJB]

That's where my definition was off ^-^; I left this definition out of the blog as it wasn't really the intention to go into that. Not that I didn't waffle a bit anyway...

We really need a foot notes append to these blogs XD

[papardeles]

Over the years of having scleroderma , I found out that the salt makes my skin tighter and itchy so I avoid eating it.

[graygirl1]

Salt is necessary to help sustain the body so it is vital to life. You are quite right that no salt is very dangerous.

We all need to cook as much fresh foods as we can and add our own salt to taste. This doesn't mean expensive but definitely more wholesome and really doesn't have to take long to prepare. Simple, nourishing and tasty dishes can be achieved quite cheaply.

I am no expert but I have witnessed someone going into hospital in a serious condition through lack of salt in their system. The doctors had a devil of a job bringing that person back from the brink of death.

Everything in moderation is my motto.