Presenting the results at the American Society for Microbiology conference, the researchers said that higher salt intake is linked to gastric cancer. Since H. pylori lives in the stomach, it accounts for up to 90 percent of duodenal ulcers and up to 80 percent of gastric ulcers.
Scientists believe that many people carry the bacterium without any major symptoms and it is also known to increase the risk of gastric cancer. It was found that in the presence of high concentrations of salt H. pylori over produces the factors that enable it to survive, which in the long term increases the risk of illness.
Food Navigator quotes Hanan Gancz, from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, as saying, "We conclude that H. pylori exposed to high levels of salt in vitro exhibit a defect in cell division."
"The altered expression patterns of some virulence genes may partially explain the increased disease risk that is associated with a high salt diet in H. pylori infected individuals."
Furthermore, too much salt in the diet also causes high blood pressure and is a major cause of heart attacks and stroke. In the U.K., Ireland and the U.S. over 80 percent of salt intake comes from processed food, with 20 percent of salt intake coming from meat and meat products, and about 35 per cent from cereal and cereal products.
