Cells may age faster in obese teenagers who have a very salty diet, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology & Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Scientific Sessions 2014.
Experts already know that the protective ends on chromosomes - called telomeres - shorten as we age, and that some physical and lifestyle factors can cause this shortening to become advanced. These factors include smoking, a lack of physical activity and having high body fat.
The new research, though, is the first study to find that sodium intake also has an impact on telomere length.
To examine the extent to which telomere length is influenced by an interaction of sodium intake and body fat, the researchers divided 766 teenagers between 14 and 18 years old into two groups based on their diet.
The teenagers who were in the lowest half of reported sodium intake consumed an average of 2,388 mg of sodium per day, whereas the teens in the highest half of reported sodium intake consumed an average of 4,142 mg per day.
Even the teens in the lower sodium group were consuming much more salt than the American Heart Association's recommended 1,500 mg per day, however.
To what extent did weight influence telomere length in teens with high sodium intake?
The researchers used a type of ratio called "T/S ratios" to describe the relationship between the length of a telomere compared with the length of a single gene.
They found that the T/S ratio in obese teens with a high sodium intake was 1.24 versus 1.32, while the T/S ratio of normal-weight teenagers with a high sodium intake was 1.29 versus 1.30.
This shows that the telomeres were significantly shorter in obese teens who had a high sodium intake. But in the teens of a normal weight who had a high sodium intake, there was no significant difference in telomere length.
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