Related topics: blood pressure
Salt
hideSalt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that is essential for animal life, but toxic to most land plants. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes, an important preservative and a popular food seasoning.
Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. It is a crystalline solid, white, pale pink or light gray in color, normally obtained from sea water or rock deposits. Edible rock salts may be slightly grayish in color because of this mineral content.
Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures, including humans. Salt is involved in regulating the water content (fluid balance) of the body. Salt cravings may be caused by trace mineral deficiencies as well as by a deficiency of sodium chloride itself. Conversely, overconsumption of salt increases the risk of health problems, including high blood pressure.
For more information about Salt, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with salt
Researchers develop cheap, easy 'kitchen chemistry' to perform formerly complex synthesis
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Dec 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (12) |
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A team at The Scripps Research Institute has made major strides in solving a problem that has been plaguing chemists for many years: how best to break carbon-hydrogen bonds and then to create new bonds to join molecules together. ...
High salt intake directly linked to stroke and cardiovascular disease
Nov 24, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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High salt intake is associated with significantly greater risk of both stroke and cardiovascular disease, concludes a study published in the BMJ today.
Robotic clam digs in mudflats
Nov 22, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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To design a lightweight anchor that can dig itself in to hold small underwater submersibles, Anette (Peko) Hosoi of MIT borrowed techniques from one of nature's best diggers -- the razor clam.
Boosting the amount of energy obtained from water
Nov 18, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
1
The energy generated in places where fresh water and salt water meet is known as blue energy. This is a relatively new but highly promising renewable energy source. Piotr Długołęcki of the University ...
Cholera bacteria show adaptability to changing environments
Dec 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bacterium behind cholera epidemics spends only a fraction of its life infecting humans. Most of the time, Vibrio cholerae lurks in estuaries and other semisalty aquatic habitats.
