Is salt good for you?

Optimal fluid balance is synonymous with hydration. But proper hydration goes beyond just water. Electrolytes are crucial for hydration and sodium (found in salt) is one of those electrolytes needed to support bodily function.

If sodium is so important why does it seem to get a bad wrap?

It all starts with the link to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a primary risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and dementia, some of the leading causes of mortality in the world today. The thing is, salt intake doesn’t predict the prevalence of high blood pressure, and actually some of the countries with the highest levels of habitual salt intake (Japan for example) actually have some of the lowest blood pressure rates in the world.

This was settled back in the 80’s during the Intersalt Study.

Salt isn’t the problem - A modern lifestyle is

So where does the negative disposition towards salt come from? High salt intakes are seen in sedentary people who tend to eat an ultra-processed diet. But in this case are we looking at the chicken or the egg? Is it the fact that we see less advantageous health outcomes because salt is high, or is it that salt is high, because we are consuming too much unprocessed food and not excreting that through daily activity?

It is widely understood that a sedentary lifestyle combined with an ultra-processed diet is less than advantageous for health and leads to weight gain over a sustained period of time. So I say again, are we looking at the chicken or the egg?

What happens if sodium is low?

Have you ever started a diet or new exercise regimen and experienced any of the following:

• Low energy

• Headaches

• Muscle cramps

We see these effects all the time in people just starting a new diet or “health” buzz, in particular, low-carb/keto dieters and active individuals.

Low carb/keto diets tend to increase urinary sodium loss and similarly with people who tend to begin eating “healthier”, carbohydrates and processed foods are typically the first to go.

On top of this water intake is increased through direct consumption and indirect consumption through an increase in dietary protein, fruits, & vegetables.

More water coupled with less sodium leads to diluted blood and in turn more urinary excretion.

How much salt should we be having per day?

The World Health Organisation recommends that people stay under 2g of sodium per day to reduce blood pressure. While this may be effective in people who have high blood pressure and or are at risk for developing high blood pressure (due to a sedentary lifestyle and habitual eating patterns of highly processed foods), this would actually fall to the low end of what would be healthy for active, healthy individuals.

For active, healthy individuals, 4-6g of sodium per day seems to be more of the sweet spot.

For reference a tsp (5g) salt has about 2g of sodium. So you’re looking at 2-3tsp per day depending on your activity levels and how much you get directly from the foods you eat (processed foods tend to already contain high levels of sodium).

Getting enough sodium is an insurance policy not a sentence.