Heavy Salt Intake in Overweight Teens may Accelerate Aging Process

For overweight teens, a recent study shows that eating salty snacks could actually speed the aging process.

"Lowering sodium intake, especially if you are overweight or obese, may slow down the cellular aging process that plays an important role in the development of heart disease," said lead researcher Haidong Zhu, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University in Augusta, GA., via a press release.

Previous findings have shown that telomeres, otherwise known as the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that naturally shorten with age, were accelerated in teens with such an unhealthy diet.

For the study, officials examined 766 people between the ages of 14 and 18 who were split into groups depending on their sodium intake.

Those in the low-intake groups typically ate an average of 2,388 mg per day, where as those who took in higher levels had around 4,142 mg per day. However, both groups consumed significantly more than recommended at the maximum of 1,500 mg per day or the equivalent of 2/3 teaspoon of salt.

Findings showed that sodium intake typically accelerated aging in overweight teens. However, for normal weight teens, telomere length was not affected

"Even in these relatively healthy young people, we can already see the effect of high sodium intake, suggesting that high sodium intake and obesity may act synergistically to accelerate cellular aging," Zhu said.

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More information regarding the findings can be seen via the American Heart Association's Epidemiology & Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity & Metabolism Scientific Sessions 2014.