Nutrition reviews
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A high-salt diet increases urinary calcium excretion. Its effect on bone, however, is less clear. Recent research suggests that a high-salt diet increases the rate of bone resorption in postmenopausal women over a 4-week period, but increased potassium intake (as potassium citrate) ameliorates this adverse effect. These findings may have implications for the development of dietary guidelines for osteoporosis prevention.
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Extremely unusual genetic conditions can reveal normal processes governing physiologic regulation and metabolism. Children with rare homozygous mutations in the leptin gene and complete leptin deficiency develop extreme hyperphagia and obesity soon after birth but respond with normal eating and a selective loss of excess body fat upon being given small amounts of leptin. ⋯ This demonstrates leptin's fundamental involvement in maintaining energy balance. Leptin also seems to act as a metabolic gate allowing children to enter puberty.