High salt consumption ‘can delay onset of puberty’

High-salt diets can potentially affect reproductive health and delay the onset of puberty, according to a study from the University of Wyoming.

Presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, the research investigated the effect of varying levels of dietary salt on the onset of puberty in rats.

Animals fed a high salt diet – equivalent to three or four times the recommended daily allowance for humans – had a significant delay in reaching puberty compared to those fed a normal low-salt diet.

Rats that had salt completely excluded from their diet also had delayed puberty, indicating salt intake is necessary for the onset of puberty, but that excesses can have a negative impact.

It was previously understood that high fat diets can accelerate the onset of puberty, but this work demonstrates that rats fed a high salt diet – even with a high fat diet – will still show a delay in puberty onset.

Study leader Dori Pitynski said: "Current salt-loading in Western populations has the potential to drastically affect reproductive health, and warrants further attention."