Aside from being associated with a list of potential health risks including high blood pressure, osteoporosis and kidney disorders, eating large amounts of salt apparently also causes people to age faster.

Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia, which is part of Gerorgia Regents University in Augusta, have discovered the protective caps on the end of chromosomes, otherwise known as telomeres, are shorter in overweight and obese teenagers who consume relatively high levels of salt, as compared to teens who follow low-salt diets.

The research was presented last week at the American Heart Association's 2014 Epidemiology & Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity & Metabolism Scientific Sessions in San Francisco.

Previous research had determined the protective chromosome ends -- the telomeres -- naturally shorten as one ages; however, that process is accelerated by smoking, lack of physical activity and high body fat.

The new research examined 766 people aged 14-18 years, divided into those with the lowest or highest portions of sodium intake reported.

The low-intake teens consumed an average 2,388 mgs of salt per day, while the high-intake participants ingested about 4,142 mgs per day.

Both groups consumed much more than the AHA's recommended 1,500 mgs per day, which equals approximately 2/3 teaspoon of salt.

After factoring in several other causes for shorter telomeres, the researchers found that in overweight or obese teens, telomeres were significantly shorter with high-sodium intake, whereas caps were not notably different in average-weight teens.

Then again, "even in these relatively healthy young people, we can already see the effect of high sodium intake, suggesting that high sodium intake and obesity may act synergistically to accelerate cellular aging," said the study's lead author, Haidong Zhu, a medical doctor and assistant professor of pediatrics at the medical college. "Especially if you are overweight or obese," decreasing salt/sodium consumption "may slow down the cellular aging process that plays an important role in the development of heart disease."

Obesity has been linked to high levels of inflammation, which also hastens telomere shortening.

"Lowering sodium intake may be an easier first step than losing weight for overweight young people who want to lower their risk of heart disease," Zhu said. "The majority of sodium in the diet comes from processed foods, so parents can help by cooking fresh meals more often and by offering fresh fruit rather than potato chips for a snack."