Extraoral Taste Receptor Discovery: New Light on Ayurvedic Pharmacology

Table 3

Comparative effects of excessive dietary saltiness in Ayurveda and modern medicine ( = not yet clarified/studied, = contradictory information Ayurveda versus modern science).

Effect of excessive use of drugs and diet having salty taste, according to Ayurveda [109]	High salt diet effects according to scientific studies
Bursting of inflamed part, heating sensation, inflammatory skin diseases (e.g., visarpa – erysipelas, herpes, vicharcika–)	Proinflammatory effect via induction of pathogenic Th17 cells and cytokine synthesis [111, 112], increased risk of inflammatory bowel diseases [113], reduced immune tolerance and increased risk of autoimmune diseases [112]
Aggravation of Blood (rakta), bleeding from different parts of the body	Hypertension, epistaxis, stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage [114, 115]
Obstruction of the function of senses, fainting, depletion of muscles	Multiple sclerosis (double vision, blindness, muscle weakness, sensorial and coordination disorders) (>5 g NaCl/day) [111]
Gastric hyperacidity (amlapitta)	High level of gastric inflammation [116], but paradoxical protection against duodenal ulcers by decreasing acid
Premature skin ageing	Potentially linked with excessive storage of Na^+ in skin without concomitant water retention, leading to an osmotic stress in the skin microenvironment [117], increased oxidative stress and accumulation of peroxidative damages [118]