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Novel Mechanism for Buffering Dietary Salt in Humans

This primary study looked at skin sodium levels after salt loading in humans. This is an increasingly important issue as high dietary sodium intake is linked to high blood pressure, and thus increased risk of cardiovascular problems. They found that in men, salt-loading led to an increase in skin electrolyte levels, but not to a significant change in blood pressure. They found that in women, salt-loading led to an increase in blood pressure, but not in skin electrolyte levels. A major downfall of this study is that they used a very small sample size- 24 men and 24 women. This study needs to be replicated to see if there really is a sex-specific response to salt-loading. However, this study was double blind, using a control (70 mmol soldium/day) and a treatment (200 mmol sodium/day). This study supports the position that electrolyte imbalance can be caused by diet, specifically salt-loading.

Salt and Water: Not so Simple

This review cited a few primary studies that looked at how water consumption/retention increases to combat dietary sodium increase. It found that as dietary sodium intake increases, water consumption actually decreases. Osmolarity is actually maintained by increased water retention. The excess salts are excreted, but urine output decreases because the kidneys conserve more water. They discussed the fact that the lack of increase in water intake is probably due to hormones. This article provides some useful insight to how the body responds to increased sodium intake. However, the article left many unanswered questions that still need to be looked into to further understand the causes and effects of electrolyte imbalance. This study also supports the fact that diet is a major cause of electrolyte imbalance.

Normative data on Regional Sweat-Sodium Concentrations of Professional Male Team-Sport Athletes

This retrospective study looked at the concentrations of salt in the sweat of professional male athletes for various sports. It found positive correlations between sweat sodium levels and self-reported sodium losses. It also found that some sports had higher concentrations of sweat sodium than other sports. Although the purpose of this study was to inform sport medicine practitioners, it gives insight as to how exercise can effect salt levels and increase likelihood of electrolyte imbalance. This study supports the fact that electrolyte imbalance can be caused by exercise and improper nutrition. It had a high sample size and included many sports, but the implications of this study are limited.

Increased salt consumption induces body water conservation and decreases fluid intake

This primary study was interesting to read after reading the Salt and Water: Not so Simple review above. This study agreed with the findings in the review. It found that when people increase their salt consumption, instead of increasing their water consumption as well, they actually decrease their water consumption. This causes them to increase water retention in the kidney and increase salt excretion. Thus, they are able to maintain proper osmolarity. A major downfall of this study is the small sample size, but in combination with the review above, the results seem accurate.

Date palm, potential source for refined sugar

This paper was interested in looking into date palm as a source for refined sugar. In the paper, this was differentiated from date sugar, which is a less refined product. It is made by grinding dried date pulp into grains we call date sugar. It was interesting that this paper pointed out that about 60% of the weight of the date palm fruit is sucrose, and has a higher sugar content than cane sugar and beet sugar. This article supports starting to use dates to make a refined sugar that will help the agricultural industry.

Nutritional and Functional Properties of Dates: A Review

This paper analyzed the composition of dates. It found that dates are comprised mostly of fructose and glucose, and low in fat and protein. They are a great source of energy and many vitamins and minerals, the most prominent being Vitamin B and C. It also mentioned the high amount of antioxidants in dates. This article was actually written by the department of Food Science at Cornell, and doesn't seem to have any bias. The high nutritional value of dates noted in this paper supports the theory that date sugar is a better alternative to refined white sugar.

A new method of producing date powder granules: Physicochemical characteristics of powder

This paper discussed the methods of making date sugar. Date sugar is made from the date palm plant, which is found in desert areas of the middle east, south Asia, and northern Africa. First, a paste is made from raw dates. The paste is then mixed with a substance called maltodextrin, and oven dried. The proportion of maltodextrin to date paste determines the properties of the date sugar granules. This method creates granules that would be possible to substitute for refined sugar.

Effect of sucrose substitution by date syrup on the physicochemical and sensory properties of malt beverage.

This was an interesting study about substituting the sucrose in malt beverages with date sugar. It found that the beverages made with date sugar were actually accepted and desirable. The implications of this study may lead more more replacement of sucrose with the healthier date sugar in more foods and beverages. Limitations are that it was only tested on beverages. Future studies should test whether date sugar is just as good of a substitute in foods as well.

Development of a novel yoghurt based on date liquid sugar: physicochemical and sensory characterization.

This was a study about adding date sugar to yogurt instead of sucrose. They analyzed the chemistry of the resulting product, and while it was slightly different from what typical yogurt is, it was still appealing to the taste testers. This suggests that the psychosocial dimensions of substituting date sugar with refined sugars will not be a big deal, and that this substitution will not have adverse effects. This conclusion suggests that we should begin further considering date sugar as a substitute for refined sugars due to the nutrition benefits. I found this in the Food and Agriculture Organization's database.

Dates as a potential substrate for single cell protein production

This study was meant to see if dates could be used for single cell protein production. In many poor countries where food shortages are high and population is rapidly increasing, there is an overproduction of carbohydrate crops yet still an nutrient deficiency due to lack of protein and other nutrients. This study found that using single cell protein production, dates can be used as a good nutrient. However, the cost of the processing must not be too high that these poor countries can't afford it. This supports the fact that date sugar is more beneficial than processed sugar. However, a limitation of this study is that it is talking about the whole date. After the date is processed into sugar, it might have lost many of the nutrients that allow it to be converted into protein.

Sugar Content Estimation of Date (Phoenix dactylifern L.) Fruits in Tamr Stage

This study tested already created methods to estimate the sugar content in dates. They found that their methods are accurate about 86% of the time. They used dates in the tamr stage, meaning the moisture content of the fruit is less than 30%. This could be a reliable way to estimate sugar content in dates before creating date sugar. More research should be done about how these results can be used to create healthier and better date sugar.

Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.): An underutilized food seeking industrial valorization

This study looked into the nutritional value of dates. It found that dates are considerably high in fiber and have many nutritional values. They hope to communicate these findings with the public to encourage more people to buy dates, and eat them as a natural dessert. Limitations of this study is that they were looking at whole dates, and once the date is converted into date sugar, some of the nutrients are being lost. That being said, they are encouraging the public to begin to use all date products.