Like saturated fat, salt has a very bad reputation.
Like saturated fat, the body needs salt to function optimally.
Salt is not totally harmless, but neither is it the devil in disguise.
Confused? Most people are.
Basically our body needs salt, but at the same time research has shown that too much can be bad for us too.
Today I will explain why this confusion has arisen and what you need to know and what you can do about it.
I will provide you with some solutions to help you avoid the negatives and get all the positives out of salt.
First of all, let’s take a quick look at the history of salt and find out how it earned such a bad name.
How salt got its bad name
There was a large 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 undeveloped non-industrial people who had very low salt intake were found to have low blood pressure.
The study leaders were happy with this and used this as proof that if a low-salt diet produced low blood pressure, then a high-salt diet must = high blood pressure.
But then there was another group in the study that screwed up the results and questioned the first “result.”
This was a tribe called the Kuna of Panama.
They were again found to have low blood pressure and little salt intake. They decided to further test their hypothesis by increasing the Kuna’s salt intake, sometimes up to 6 teaspoons a day.
The result was that there were no changes in the hypertensive states (blood pressure) of the tribe, no matter how old they were.
However, these days it is widely accepted, it has been shown time and again, if you drastically reduce your salt intake, there will likely be a slight drop in your blood pressure.
This decrease is mainly due to the immediate decrease in body weight obtained by eliminating salt.
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that while reducing salt can lead to slightly lower blood pressure, reducing total salt can also lead to health problems.
In a study in 2011, it showed that after 7 days on a low-salt diet, healthy men and women increased insulin resistance compared to a high-salt diet. (insulin resistance is bad and can lead to hormonal problems and weight gain)
Another study that was 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 unhappy)
One study found that you are at higher risk for strokes and heart attacks if you eat less than 3 grams of sodium a day than when you consume 6 to 7 grams of sodium a day.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that salt is okay when consumed in 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 that the type of salt hidden in food is worse than the kind that is sprinkled on top of food.
This is where your main focus should be, eliminating these high-salt processed foods.
The best overall indicator of health is ultimately how long you live!
One study found that people with an 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 quantity, and 5-10g of salt per day is fine for the average person. I also think that the salt intake should fluctuate, for example, it should increase if you sweat or exercise a lot, and decrease if you are totally inactive (the same as for food in general, if you do more you need more).
If you, like me, are a lover of salt, you will be pleased 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 replace them – that’s what big brands like lucozade and powerade boast about.
(Tip: never use these things, especially if you are an athlete, it contains a neuro-toxin, aspartame)
This study has found that if you increase your sodium intake before exercise in warm conditions, you increase the volume of fluid (water in the body) and reduce the physiological stress 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 follow a low-salt diet and exercise regularly, I can bet you’re not going to perform at your best. If you don’t exercise, don’t think you’re free. The same could be true for you, as you are an athlete than a corporate executive, your job performance would be diminished on a low salt diet.
My high-flying corporate clients enjoy being compared to athletes!
Even if they don’t feel like they are one, they learn from me, they need to act as one (regarding their nutrition, exercise, and rest anyway). Being at your best physically and mentally is essential if you want to progress in your work and ensure better earnings for the future.
I’m rambling, back to the salt …
A little story about a good friend from Dean Llewellyn who is an Ironman.
Dean was competing in his biggest, most difficult and most important race to date: Lanzarote Ironman.
(Ironman triathlon distance, for those of you who don’t know, you need to complete a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and run a full marathon to finish!)
Unfortunately, when he was approaching the finish line, literally in the last mile, he collapsed and fell 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 body fluids.
In the first place, we couldn’t figure out 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 heaps.
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 remove the salts from your body, we now firmly believe that this is what Dean had inadvertently done.
Lesson learned. He returned a couple of years later and successfully completed the course. He’s an amazing guy, a really tough man and he’s overcome a lot of challenging injuries since then.
Salt makes food tastier
This is one of the most important to me!
I admit vegetables and salad can taste boring on their own, but drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and add a little salt and pepper and you have a completely different tasting meal.
Like kale, delicious with salt and oil, bitter without it.
I think we should enjoy our food, and not many people will be able to go on a tasteless diet, I know I can’t.
Salt makes a big difference in food, so use it, if adding salt to your veggies or salad helps you avoid unhealthy dressings and sauces, go for it, it’s much better for you.
The second main point of the article, after getting the right amount of salt, is the quality of the salt.
People often don’t distinguish between different types of salt – BIG mistake.
Some salts are much better than others.
Types of salt
Basically, there are three different types of salt:
1. Sodium Chloride – This is the normal table salt you get. This is the kind of thing that all shitty processed foods contain, it’s toxic and it’s bad for your health. This is the salt that gave salt as a whole a bad name!
It has been heated to 400 degrees, bleached, stripped of most of its nutrients during the refining process, and many chemicals have been added to it. It is as far from the salt as possible.
Personally, I find table salt and chippy salt – a very strong salty flavor (which is lovely but very delicious) compared to the salt I now use at home. What you think? Can you tell the difference?
2. The so-called ‘sea salt’ – This should be good for you, but unfortunately it has been so processed and refined that it has lost so many valuable minerals that it is often not much better than the normal 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, they are mostly removed by processing.
3. Salt from the Celtic sea: this is the salt you should eat. It is sometimes referred to as “macrobiotic sea salt, hand-harvested and sun-dried.” This is real salt and this is what we need, this will help us achieve optimal health. It contains no additives and nothing that could alter the salt has been removed.
You can try using unrefined organic 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 that is sprinkled over food to enhance the flavor.
As I 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 all cells.
Every time we sweat, cry or go to the bathroom we lose salt, so it is important that these are replenished.
So don’t believe all the bad things about salt and don’t be discouraged.
It’s about 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 when it’s hot, remember that you need more.
Thank you for reading,
Richard
PS: This is all based on my research and my personal experience with salt. Please share with me your views on salt, do you think it is good or bad?
References: Mark’s Daily Request Website: Salt What is it for? 12/06/2013