High-salt diet linked to asthma?

We all know eating too much salt (and therefore sodium) puts us at more risk of developing high blood pressure.

Now researchers in the USA have discovered what they believe is a link between a high-salt diet and exercise-induced asthma.

Study participants were placed on either a high-salt or low-salt diet and had their breathing measured post-exercise. The study found that high salt levels increased airway inflammation following exercise.  “Participants on the high-salt diet showed a dramatic decline in lung function after physical activity,” they reported.

Sodium is found naturally in some foods, but is mostly eaten in processed foods.

Source: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 37(6):904-914, June 2005.