Blood Flow through the Body - Eating a single salty meal is harmful for it

Blood flow in the body's main arteries is significantly reduced within half an hour of eating just one meal high in salt.

Doctors found arteries rapidly lost some of their ability to pump blood because of the damaging effects of salt.

The findings may help to explain why the popular food additive is so harmful.

Until now, it was thought to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes by driving up blood pressure.

Salt may also damage the heart by making blood vessels 'stiffer' and less able to keep blood moving round the body.

Salt has been linked with an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, and osteoporosis and stomach cancer.

Bread, processed foods and ready-made sauces are some of the items that contain the highest salt levels, although supermarkets have gradually been reducing salt levels in oven-ready meals.

Healthy blood vessels will stretch open to let more blood pass through easily but damaged ones are less flexible and restrict the flow.

This is a measure of how smoothly blood is flowing in the brachial artery, the main artery in the upper arm which doctors normally use to check blood pressure.

Although the brachial artery does not measure blood flow directly to the heart, it is commonly used to give an indication of cardiovascular health.

Blood Flow was 'significantly more impaired' within 30 minutes of eating the salty meal than the low-salt alternative and the restriction reached a peak after an hour.

Salt may affect our heart in a variety ways - not just through raised blood pressure.