caption: A team of scientists from Yale University in the U.S and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany looked at the relationship between junk foods & the enormous increase in autoimmune diseases. 'This study is the first to indicate that excess refined and processed salt may be one of the environmental factors driving the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases,' they said. Junk foods at fast food restaurants as well as processed foods at grocery retailers represent the largest sources of sodium intake from refined salts.