<p>Data collected from a new study has suggested that the intake of diet containing high salt may prove to be dangerous for good bacteria present in the gut and may also contribute to high blood pressure and diseases affecting the immune system.</p><p><strong>How does salt upset our body&#039;s delicate balance?</strong></p><p>From the previous studies, scientists already know about the link between high blood pressure and a diet high in salt but recently they have found out that the diets rich in high salt may also accelerate the development of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease">autoimmune diseases</a> like multiple sclerosis (MS).</p><p>The mechanism behind the association is proposed by the new research conducted by scientists from the Experimental and Clinical Research Center and Max Delbr&amp;uuml;ck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany.</p><blockquote><p>The mechanism behind the association is proposed by the new research conducted by scientists from the Experimental and Clinical Research Center and Max Delbr&amp;uuml;ck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany.</p></blockquote><p><strong>What is Lactobacillus?</strong></p><p>Lactobacillus is a type of gut bacteria generally found in some fermented foods like yogurt, cheese and other dietary supplements. They are considered friendly for the gut as they protect us against certain diseases.</p><p>The current research findings presented at the <a href="https://www.bcs.com/pages/default.asp">British Cardiovascular Society </a>Conference in Manchester in the United Kingdom, has suggested that consuming salt in high quantities could kill Lactobacillus and, thereby, increase the risk of disease.</p><p><strong>Research on mice</strong> <br /><br />rnThe scientists found that a version of Lactobacillus found in mice is destroyed when they are fed a diet with increased salt. The high-salt diet also caused the mice&#039;s blood pressure to rise and stimulated the activation of inflammation-inducing immune cells, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_helper_17_cell">TH17 cells</a>.</p><p>The mice also showed symptoms of a neurological condition similar to MS called encephalomyelitis.</p><p>It was also found that encephalomyelitis symptoms and TH17 cell count could be lessened by giving the mice a probiotic treatment of Lactobacillus, which also stabilized the mice&#039;s blood pressure.</p><p>The researchers then tried to replicate the findings in humans. For it, they recruited 12 healthy men who consumed 6 extra grams of salt each day for 2 weeks, effectively doubling their salt intake.</p><p>The results at the end of 2 weeks showed that in most of the participants, Lactobacillus was killed from the microbiomes &amp;