A SALTY SUBJECT the lights dim in the movie theater The movie starts Jillian begins munching on her popcorn She licks the extra salt from her fingers Halfway through the bucket she realizes she is thirsty She reaches for her bottle of water and takes a big drink Jillian's body responds to all the salt she's eaten The salt passes through the wall of her small intestine It enters her bloodstream Soon she has more salt in her blood and body fluids than in her cells Her body senses the increase in salt and works hard to return the salt to normal levels More water is needed to dilute the salt Water is pulled from the body's cells Popcorn is often made with salt and butter 5
into the body fluids Sensors in Jillian's brain DOES SALT MAKE YOU THIRSTY tell her she's thirsty so Scientists used to think that she drinks more water when people eat a lot of salt Balance is restored they get thirsty That's been the theory for decades But there may be more to the SALT OR story according to a 2017 SODIUM study Researchers fed two Many people use the groups of men identical diets But researchers changed the terms salt and sodium level of salt in the food When interchangeably But the men ate more salt they drank less The extra sodium they are different Salt may have triggered their is a natural mineral A bodies to conserve water mineral is a substance They were less thirsty not more The study has caused found in the earth scientists to rethink how the that does not come body balances salt and water from a plant or animal Salt is composed of two elements The elements are sodium and chloride Sodium's chemical symbol is Na Chloride's is Cl 6
Chloride is a form of chlorine The chemical name of salt is sodium chloride or NaCl for short Approximately 60 percent of salt is chloride Only 40 percent is sodium But when it comes to health sodium can play a large role AN EDIBLE ROCK NaCl is a rock It's the only rock that humans eat It dissolves in water Most of the salt we eat comes from oceans or deep in the earth Underground salt is mined Salt from oceans is produced through evaporation Canals divert seawater into shallow ponds The water slowly dries up Salt is left behind and gathered Every year people around the world consume approximately 187 million short tons 170 metric tons of salt SALTY BODIES If you lick your upper lip after sweating it tastes salty That's because sweat contains chloride and sodium An average adult's body has approximately 3.5 ounces 100 grams of sodium That's enough to fill a salt 7
