Like saturated fat, salt gets a very bad rap.
Like saturated fat, the body needs salt to function optimally.
Salt isn’t totally harmless, but neither is it the devil in disguise.
Confused? Most people are.
Basically, our bodies need salt, but at the same time, research has shown that too much of it can be bad for us too.
Today I will explain to you why this confusion has arisen and what you need to know and what you can do about it.
I’ll provide you with some solutions to help you avoid the negatives and get all the positives out of salt.
First, let’s take a quick look at the history of salt and find out how it got such a bad rap.
How salt got its bad name
There was a big study done in the 1980s called ‘Intersalt’, this study aimed to find out if there was a relationship between high blood pressure and salt intake.
The study showed a very small link between the two.
Some underdeveloped non-industrialized people who had very low salt intake were found to have low blood pressure.
The study leaders were happy with this and used it as proof that if a low-salt diet caused low blood pressure, then a high-salt diet must equal high blood pressure.
But then there was another group in the study that screwed up the results and called the first “result” into question.
This was a tribe called the Kuna from Panama.
They were again found to have low blood pressure and low salt intake. They decided to further test their hypothesis by increasing the Kuna’s salt intake, sometimes as much as 6 teaspoons a day.
The result was that there was no change in the hypertensive states (blood pressure) of the tribe, no matter how old they were.
However, these days it’s widely accepted, it’s been proven over and over again, if you drastically reduce your salt intake, there will probably be a slight drop in your blood pressure.
This drop is mainly due to the immediate drop in body weight you get when you cut out salt.
But there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that while salt reduction can lead to slightly lower blood pressure, total salt reduction can also lead to health problems.
In a 2011 study, it was shown that after 7 days on a low-salt diet in healthy men and women, insulin resistance increased compared to a high-salt diet. (insulin resistance is bad and can lead to hormonal problems and weight gain)
Another study testing the relationship between blood pressure and salt intake found that a low-salt diet had negative effects on cholesterol levels and stress hormone levels. (A sure sign that the body is not happy)
One study found that you have a higher risk of strokes and heart attacks if you eat less than 3 grams of sodium a day than when you eat 6-7 grams of sodium a day.
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that salt is okay when you eat it the right way and in the right amounts.
Salt has been used as a scapegoat by health and nutrition experts who suggest that salt causes obesity and countless other health problems.
Most of the salt in a western (bear) type diet would come from salt “already added” to your food.
Personally, I think the kind of salt hidden in food is worse than the stuff sprinkled on top of food.
This is where your main focus should be, cutting out these high-salt processed foods.
Ultimately the best overall indicator of health is how long you live!
One study found that people with average salt intake tend to live longer than those who consume too much or too little salt.
The average salt intake figure was just under 2 teaspoons a day.
Personally, I think the quality of salt is more important than the quantity, and 5-10g of salt per day is fine for the average person. I also believe that salt intake should fluctuate, for example, it should increase if you sweat or exercise a lot, and decrease if you are totally inactive (as with food in general, if you do more, you need more).
If you, like me, are a salt lover, you will be glad to know that there are more benefits.
Salt is good for you when you exercise, it helps you stay hydrated.
You may have heard of electrolytes, and how when we exercise we need to replenish them, that’s what big brands like lucozade and powerade brag about.
(Hint: never use this stuff, especially if you are an athlete, it contains a neurotoxin, aspartame)
This study has found that if you increase your sodium intake before exercise in hot conditions, you increase fluid (water in the body) volume and reduce the physiological strain of exercise.
This doesn’t just apply to hot weather conditions, it works for all sports and conditions. Don’t start taking salt before training or playing: buy some salt tablets. Take as recommended by them.
optimal performance
If you eat a low-salt diet and exercise regularly, you can bet you won’t perform at your best. If you don’t exercise, don’t think you’re going to get away with it. The same could be true for you, whether you’re an athlete or a corporate executive, your performance at work would suffer on a low-salt diet.
My high-flying corporate clients enjoy being compared to athletes!
Even if they don’t feel like it, they learn from me, they need to act like it (as far as their nutrition, exercise, and rest anyway). Being in your best physical and mental shape is essential if you want to progress in your job and secure better earnings for the future.
I digress, going back to the salt…
A little story about a good friend of mine from school, Dean Llewellyn, who is an Ironman.
Dean was competing in his biggest, toughest and most important race up to that point: Lanzarote Ironman.
(Ironman triathlon distance, for those who don’t know, you have to complete a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and run a full marathon to finish!)
Unfortunately, as he was approaching the finish line, literally in the last mile, he collapsed and went into a coma. He told me that he remembered thinking he had been hit by a car.
It turned out that she had suffered from hyponatremia, which is a condition caused when there is not enough sodium (salt) in the body fluids.
First of all, we could not understand how or why it had happened that his preparation for the race had been perfect and then he realized.
During the 4-5 days of his pre-race preparation, he drank a lot of water. I mean a lot.
The strategy was partially correct as Lanzarote is a tough Ironman due to the hot weather conditions.
The problem is that when you drink a lot of water you actually flush salts out of your body, we now firmly believe that is what Dean had inadvertently done.
Lesson learned. She returned a couple of years later and successfully completed the course. He’s a great guy, a really tough guy and he’s overcome a lot of challenging injuries since then.
Salt makes food tastier
This is one of the big ones for me!
I admit that the vegetables and salad can taste boring on their own, but drizzle them with a little extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and add a little salt and pepper and you have a completely different tasting meal.
Just like kale, delicious with salt and oil, bitter without.
I think we should enjoy our food, and not many people will be able to follow a tasteless diet, I know I can’t.
Salt makes a big difference in food, so use it, if adding salt to your vegetables or salads helps you avoid unhealthy dressings and sauces, then go for it, it’s much better for you.
The second main point of the article, after getting the amount of salt right, is the quality of the salt.
People often don’t distinguish between different types of salt – a BIG mistake.
Some salts are much better than others.
types of salt
There are basically three different types of salt:
1. Sodium Chloride – This is the regular table salt you get. This is the kind of stuff that is contained in all crappy processed foods, it’s toxic and it’s bad for your health. This is the salt that gave salt in general a bad rap!
It has been heated to 400 degrees, bleached, stripped of most of its nutrients during the refining process, and has had many chemicals added to it. It is as far from salt as salt can be.
I personally find table salt and salt from the chippy – a very strong salty taste (which is lovely but very tasty) compared to the salt I now use at home. What do you think? Can you taste the difference?
2. So-called ‘sea salt’: It should be good for you, but unfortunately it’s been processed and refined so much that it’s lost so many valuable minerals that it’s often not much better than the regular table salt mentioned above.
Raw salt contains: Calcium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium and Zinc.
Processed salt does not contain the same nutrients in the same amounts, most of which are removed by processing.
3. Celtic Sea Salt: This is the salt you should be eating. It is sometimes referred to as ‘macrobiotic, hand-harvested, sun-dried sea salt’. This is real salt and this is what we need, this will help us achieve optimal health. It contains no additives and nothing has been removed that alters the salt.
You can try using organic unrefined sea salt or something similar.
Celtic Sea Salt has been found to help regulate heartbeat and blood pressure, improve brain function, balance blood sugar, alkalize and energize the body, and promote sleep. Not bad for something sprinkled on food to enhance flavor.
As I have told you in the past, our bodies are made up of a community of cells.
Salt is contained in each of these trillions of cells, if it weren’t important, I don’t think it would be in every cell.
Every time we sweat, cry or go to the bathroom we lose salt, so it is important that these are replaced.
So don’t believe all the bad things about salt and don’t be discouraged.
It’s all a matter of quality and quantity.
As long as you have the right types of salt in the right amounts, you can experience many benefits. If you sweat a lot from exercise or heat, remember that you need more.
Thank you for reading,
Richard
PS: This is all based on my research and personal experience with salt. Please share with me your opinion about salt, do you think it is good or bad?
References: Mark’s Daily Apply Website: Salt What Is Good For. 06/12/2013