As you may realize by now, salt has had a very colorful history, both in the development of human civilization as well as public health politics in the past century. While salt was originally prized by many cultures for thousands of years, in the past century it has been demonized; some have gone as far as calling it the single most harmful substance in the food supply. Yet as we know, sodium plays a crucial role in optimal health, and too little salt intake can be dangerous in the long run.
In Shaking up the Salt Myth: The History of Salt, I described the history of salt production and use, and its place in the Paleolithic and Neolithic diets. In The Human Need for Salt, I explained the physiological roles of salt in the human body and the basic dietary requirements for salt. In The Dangers of Salt Restriction, I examined potential negative health consequences of restricting salt unnecessarily. In When Salt Reduction May Be Warranted, I described conditions in which salt restriction may be necessary, and other minerals that are essential in determining blood pressure.
In this final article, I will describe the types of salt I recommend, and how much salt is ideal for most people.
How much, and what kind of salt to include in the diet
According to research, there exists a range of sodium intake that likely confers the best health outcomes for most people. As I explained in part 3, findings from a 2011 study demonstrate the lowest risk of death for sodium excretion between 4000 and 5990 milligrams per day. (1) Sodium excretion greater than 7000 milligrams or less than 3000 milligrams per day was associated with a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death. This lowest risk range equates to approximately two to three teaspoons of salt per day.
The average American consumes about 3700 milligrams of sodium a day. This value has remained constant for the last fifty years, despite the rise in rates of high blood pressure and heart disease. (2) As a comparison, the Japanese, with one of the highest life expectancies in the world, consume an average of 4650 milligrams of sodium per day, and have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than most other developed countries. (3, 4) Their average sodium intake has consistently hovered in the low risk range over the past 30 years, despite attempts by public health organizations to reduce Japanese salt consumption. (5) A caveat is that the Japanese also have a high risk of stroke, so their extremely high salt intake is not necessarily recommended as a model for our own intake. (6)
People who are quite active or sweat a lot should consume salt on the higher end, and those who are less active may want to consume on the lower end. Of course, there may be some conditions where moderate salt restriction is warranted, but for the majority of healthy individuals, salting to taste will provide an appropriate level of sodium in the diet. Natural sources of sodium include sea vegetables, fish, shellfish, and meat, plus certain plants such as beets, carrots, celery, spinach, and turnips.
What type of salt should you buy?
One question frequently brought up in the Paleo community is what type of salt is best. This is a difficult question to answer. There are a wide variety of salts available on the market, all claiming health benefits over the others. While the answer to this is unclear, there is some research demonstrating a difference in mineral content and flavor intensity of certain salts that would be better options than common table salt.
A fascinating 1980 study examined the different indigenous, pre-industrial methods of salt production, and their respective mineral contents. (7) Some salt production methods included drying marine algae or fish eggs, fermenting marine fish blood and entrails, and even using sea water soaked in peat that was dried and burned to create salty ash. This study compared the mineral contents of these traditional salts with industrial table salt, as well as a variety of sea salts and other “health salts” on the market. The indigenous salts were found to be higher in combined essential and nonessential trace elements than both the table and sea salts.
Most of us do not have access to these traditionally prepared salts. Fortunately, sea salt and other commercially available natural salts have been shown to contain a higher trace mineral content than refined table salt. (8) In this study, the mineral content of sea salts differed depending on the harvesting location, but all salts tested contained various amounts of trace minerals (with the exception of table salt), and had small amounts of calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, and iron. The various natural salts also had different time intensity profiles, due to the variety of minerals, so less of the salt is necessary to achieve the same level of flavor intensity compared to table salt.
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Types of salt that are not recommended
One sea salt that is not recommended for dietary consumption is Dead Sea salt, due to its high bromide content. (9) The Dead Sea has the highest bromide concentration of any large body of water in the world, and bromide toxicity can occur after consumption. Some argue that sea salt is no longer healthy due to the level of pollution in our oceans today, though evidence for this is scant. (10) If this is a concern, there are salts produced from ancient geological oceans, like Real Salt from Utah beds or Himalayan pink salt, which would not have the same level of pollution as salt from much of the world’s oceans.
Regular table salt, conversely, is heavily processed, generally devoid of trace minerals, and commonly contains undesirable additives such as anti-caking agents like sodium silicoaluminate or sodium ferrocyanide. Therefore, generally avoiding table salt is a good idea, though care must be taken to ensure adequate iodine intake from other sources once iodized table salt has been removed from the diet.
Don’t stress the salt!
The amount of conflicting research that exists on salt is astounding. Hundreds of studies have been conducted on salt intake, and a consistent pattern has never been established for sodium’s role in a variety of negative health outcomes. At a minimum, it seems absurd that so much time, energy, and money is spent on trying to reduce the amount of salt that Americans eat, considering how weak the evidence is on this issue.
A bit of salt can make certain healthy foods, particularly bitter vegetables, far more palatable. Considering the evidence I’ve presented in this series, I believe that salt restriction for the general population is not only unnecessary, but potentially dangerous.
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Chris, I am currently exploring the effect of sea salt on the body in a facebook group called The Wilking Protocol. Let me know if you are interested in observing what’s happening in there.
I have hepatitis c probably last stage 34 to 35 years my mineral balance is off
The amount of ignorance in the comments in astonishing. I am surprised paleos would be so fooled by the anti-salt health community.
Sea salt and even table salt are essential for health.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/salt.shtml
The amount of idiots who say you need none, probably never exercise or sweat. I exercise constantly. If I do not replenish my salt, I get weak and faint.
Historically our ancestors often averaged 17 grams of sea salt per day.
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/salt-and-our-health/
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-salt-of-the-earth/
Innumerable cultures harvest salts and have added them to foods. Salt has been cherished and used as currency. Wars have even been fought over salt.
Apparently they all had heart disease, hypertension and strokes, because they ate more salt than we did.
It should be noted that salt must be eaten in correlation with potassium. If salt is too high and potassium is low, then it is problematic. Same with if potassium is too high and salt is too low. A balance is needed. Taste often can be a good guide.
Pink salt is touted to contain over 1mg of iron per gram of salt. This is not recommended for those who eat a lot of meat, as excessive iron has innumerable negative health consequences. Thus 10 grams of pink salt equals 100% of your daily iron. Iron oxide is what gives pink salt its colour.
Other things to watch out for are potential contaminants in salt. Finding a non-caking agent table salt can be useful if sea salts do not react too well.
Salt consumption is also relative to overall caloric intake. A large person who sweats and trains regularly will obviously need more than some skinny person who sits at a desk with air conditioning.
My best performances are always done when I do my salt load just right. It also lowers cortisol the stress agent.
Low salt will only make you weak, give you terrible muscular endurance. I pity those who are missing out. However I suppose you deserve it for embracing such ignorance.
yea, I can attest from personal experience that increasing (not decreasing) unrefined sea salt intake has only improved my health. I went months (over 6 months) once and removed salt completely from my diet. My hair started falling out, and only 29 years old…..I developed rashes, numbness in my limbs – other autoimmune disorders as well. My gums started to bleed uncontrollably at times. My digestion was the worst – it slowed down and nearly stopped. I almost had to go to the ER to take a #2. Any time I would eat a pinch of sea salt after that, my disgestion would instantly start working, my stomach would rumble, my mouth would start to water (enzyme production). Its no secret to me now that sea salt and the minerals are very important in my body functioning properly. I would not advise anyone to lower salt intake. If you have high blood pressure, etc – you need to look at what else you are consuming, because its not the salt.
Seriously you believe in western price foundation,? That study is flawed from the beginning, who says that the best source of vitamin D is from eggs and meat instead of sun Rays, sun rays with in 20 minutes produce vitamin D in skin cells that last for several days, if you believe in medical science go a head and eat organic meat and eggs and observe the results for your self, just observe the sodium proportion in nature, lot of foods contain low sodium, i am taking about fresh fruits and vegetables, follow the nature and you will always be safe, the best sodium recommendation for people on low activity side is 500 mg sodium, and if you do strenuous Excercise increase it to 900 mg but no more than 1000 mg sodium,
I have a lot of education in natural health, body chemistry analysis, and supplement chemistry and chemistry balancing from the Reams Biological Theory of Ionization as applied to human health and agriculture. Visit: http://www.advancedideals.org.
And from this I know a lot about body electrolytes and the many different salts and their effects on body chemistry.
But, I grew up on a farm where a neighbour farmer who on occasion used to come over to our place and have dinner with us. To my shock he would salt his food to almost a white coating on his plate on what ever mom served. He always did this. Sometimes I would eat at his place and it was the same. His salt intake was incredible. I always wondered how or why he was still alive? That was 30 and 40 yrs ago. He was in relative good physical health until he died last winter at 84. This defies everything I know, and everything we are taught.
I have heard similar stories in the UK to David’s, and I believe that the war on salt in recent years is not only totally over the top, but damaging to the health of the nation. Too many times people look at ailments without considering the whole picture and make erroneous conclusions and judgments. Without question, some level of salt is necessary for a healthy body, but animal fats are not (finally the World Health Organisation has acknowledged the dangers of consuming red meat and put it on a par with smoking tobacco). I suggest we turn out attention to a war on animal fats instead and give salt a break – it deserves it.
Steve, Based on my experience, the general popular knowledge about the health of eating red meats is as bad as salt and many other things. I feel and think better if I eat good quality red meat, especially liver once every week or two.
Our health is much more affected by stress, conflicts, trauma and the like, than food. Dr. Hamer discovered that every disease or disorder is caused by some sort of conflict or trauma. See http://www.learninggnm.com
Chris, have you looked at Wright Salt. Finland uses this combo (potassium, magnesium, lysine) and it has reduced CD by 60%. Even their McDonalds was using it. Other studies in Taiwan and Australia show similar results. Jonathan Wright, long-time naturopath in the US created it. He didn’t like the name but his lawyers convinced him it was the safest product name to use.
What I would like to know is:
Where are all these ingredients in wright salt, sourced from, ie country of origin?
Proprietary blend of:
Sodium chloride, Potassium chloride, Magnesium
sulphate, Lysine hydrochloride, Silicon dioxide,
Zinc chloride, Copper glycinate, Selenium and
Potassium iodide.
Himalayan Crystal Salt is the most beneficial, cleanest salt available on the planet. It was formed about 230 million years ago where the energy of sun has dried up the original, primal sea. This crystal salt is absolutely pristine and natural, identical in composition to the ancient primal ocean. Himalayan salt is most commonly found as coarse grains, fine grains, or large blocks in Pink Dark pink and in white colors. Himalayan Pink Salt is used by holistic chefs, spas, health professionals, and individuals for its range of nutritional and therapeutic properties. Pink salt may be used in the same manner as table salt for culinary dishes and baking, but it is purer and higher in mineral content. Pink salt can be used to stimulate circulation, relax the body, lower blood pressure, sooth sore muscles, and remove toxins from the body. Mehran corporation exports all kind of salts
“Pink salt can be used to stimulate circulation, relax the body, lower blood pressure”
NaCl does not lower blood pressure. Quite the reverse, and wherever your sodium chloride comes from, it will raise your blood pressure.
230 milliot yeat ago the earth is quite young 10 to 12 thousand ~ years proven not by religious freaks but a secular English man I don’t take sides just scientific research facts the sun may be millions or blllons old but earth
Hi
Totally agree
I hv converted my diet to high fat and low carb diet ketogenic way of eating and it includes pink salt or Celtic sea salt and be liberal with it it stops vertigo and dizziness cramps in muscles and is a conductor for our bodies helps with our neurotransmitters in our brain so we don’t get foggy memory’s dont get forgetful we need salt it has an abundant of minerals magnesium potassium etc combined with table salt which is good for the thyroid as well its natures choice given to us for a reason
I will not stop my salt intake ! Also mensturating times in women it stops sugar cravings because u loose a lot of fluid electrolytes and need to be replaced by salt not sugar
Thanks
Beb
Why would anyone eat sea salt when you die if you drink the sea water, even in an emergency?
Because sea water has too high concentration of salt.
Sea water will not kill you but help you if you begin taking sips as soon as you become shipwrecked etc. It’s if you wait a long time until you become super dehydrated and drink a lot of it. Check out the video titled “water and salt” on YouTube by Barbara O,Neil,
Thank you for your reply. She has more than one video about water and salt. Could you link to the video you refer to? Thank you.
How do cell salts compare to sea salts?
Is Himalayan Salt safe with all the other elements in it?
The salt is the greatest blunder of the Homo sapiens. The NaCl isn’t food for humans, but is perfect food of disorder – in our every cells. We don’t need sodium salts in our foods, and we cannot adopt the salted foods. The himalayan salt is also unnecessary and dangerous. Read this, in British Medical Journal (BMJ online):
http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4962/rr-5
thanks for this information zoltan, my question to Chris Kresser is why is this article still up then advocating salt after all this time.
What’s strange is I personally starting noticing actually quite the opposite of these studies purport ie: health benefits and better digestion when I used light sprinkles of pink himiliyian salt from dr mercola.
But this research on paper goes against what Chris and Dr mercola thoughts.
2 important, but ignored part of the real science of salt:
W J Oliver, E L Cohen, J V Neel: Blood pressure, sodium intake, and sodium related hormones in the Yanomamo Indians, a “no-salt” culture.
Circulation. 1975; 52: 146-151
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/52/1/146
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/52/1/146.full.pdf+html
And: De Luise et al.: Reduced activity of the red-cell sodium-potassium pump in human obesity.
The New England Journal of Medicine 1980 Oct 30; 303(18): 1017-22.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198010303031801
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6252462
Note: 1975 and 1980 – and where is the progress of the health sciences?? The salt debate is a harmful consequence of the astonishingly wrong education, and is a direct consequence of astonishing irresponsibility of highest level of health scientists. The real science of salt is a taboo – this is global problem.
H X Li: A study on the relationship between reduced activity of red cell membrane sodium-potassium pump and essential hypertension.
Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi 10(2):98-101 May 1989
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/20612432
“Abstract: A population-based matched study of 103 pairs on the relation of sodium-potassium pump defect and hypertension was conducted at a factory in 1986. Conditional Logistic regression technique was used in data analysis. It was suggested that the increase of RBCNa+ and decrease of RBCK+ and RBCNa+, K+ATP-ase were significantly associated with hypertension. Plasma sodium and body weight, which were considered as important risk factors of hypertension, were fund correlated with the decrease of RBCNa+, K+ATPase, it was proposed that reduced activity of cell membrane sodium-potassium pump might be the common link of the two factors with hypertension.”
26 years old article! And now: “Noncommunicable diseases prematurely take 16 million lives annually, WHO urges more action.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/noncommunicable-diseases/en/
WHO urges more action? But the WHO misleads all the humanity with own made pseudoscience, and the astonishingly irresponsible health scientists ignore this fact. In 2003:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_916.pdf
In 2013:
http://www.who.int/entity/nutrition/publications/guidelines/sodium_intake_printversion.pdf
“Addressing the optimal ratio of sodium to potassium was outside the scope of this guideline; however, if an individual consumes the amount of sodium
recommended in this guideline and the amount of potassium recommended in the WHO guideline on potassium intake, the ratio of sodium to potassium would be approximately one to one, which is considered benefiial for health (12).”
This (12) reference = the 2003. paper of WHO.
Try to find the evidence for this one to one Na/K molar ratio in the 2003. document. No reference, and no evidence – this is pseudoscience made by WHO.
I have been using salt to treat low blood pressure for the past couple of years. Use Celtic, Himalayan, and now using Real Salt, Utah. I put about a tsp in a glass of water daily or sometimes just twice a week depends on BP. I must drink at least 2 liters of water daily or BP will drop.
My blood sodium is always on the lower side and potassium higher side of normal. My blood pressure gets as low as 85/54, heart rate as low as 46 resting. When bp lowers I do as much as 3 tsp in multiple glasses of water and drink immediately. My doc wanted me to use Florinef and I don’t want too. I can keep my BP up with salt but have to watch it closely. Cardio doc wants me to use midodrine and I won’t do that either. So Salt is my friend. I eat very little to no packaged foods and try to eat well, probably need more plant. I seem to also be hypovolemic, hypothyroid and probably some adrenal issues. They say Autonomic Nervous system problem is the reason, (POTS) but I don’t fit that profile entirely and reject that diagnosis. The body should function normally I don’t know what happened that I have to pay so much attention to monitoring myself. I have Orthostatic Intolerance standing long periods and feel faint. My BP and heart rate do not fluctuate standing as most POTS people do. I never had to use salt like medicine before but I have to have now. I have been very physical my entire life and this is keeps me down. But I exercise anyway and my BP drops. I just salt and water and continue to wonder WHY?
I know this is an old post but have you ever looked into upper cervical care? and had a cervical adjustment?
I had high blood pressure for years and tried everything and nothing worked until i had a few adjustments. I’m only 33.
I know a woman who had very low blood pressure for years too and she had the same problem, out of whack atlas.
google it and look into it.
God bless
Can someone tell me how much sodium there is in 1 gram of salt? Thanks.
One gram of salt contains 0.39 grams of sodium.
1 g NaCl contains 393.38 mg sodium.
(see http://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/sodium )
http://thepaleodiet.com/new-studies-on-salt-adverse-influence-upon-immunity-inflammation-and-autoimmunity/
Chris, what do you think about this?
I have high blood pressure and I am on 3 medication to control it
Am I at risk from sodium or is it ok for me to use salt
Thank u
Sodium and salt are not interchangeable terms.
Sodium an essential electrolyte, one of many “salts” the body needs, must never be confused with sodium chloride, or common table salt.
Sodium from plant based material or the animal that ate the plants is appropriate for health. This is good sodium.
Salt or the compound sodium chloride from packaged junk foods is to be avoided. Whether from the salt shaker or the processed junk food industry, this form of salt is not where people with health issues should be getting sodium from.
Samantha: too much sodium is never good, whether from plants or any other source. Recommended maximum intake = 2000 mg per adult person per day (WHO).
Less (< 1500 mg) for people with hypertension, afro-americans and people older than 50 or children.
I have always had extremely good blood pressure along with a low heart beat rate (47 – 55 beats per minute) because I have been jogging since I was 14 years old.
But I am also a person that consumes salt with all and every single meal I take, from fried eggs, to salads, from toasted bread to meat and fish.
But I never eat PROCESSED FOOD, never. The last time I ate processed food was 1 year ago and as an exception while with I went out fishing with a friend. I ended up with stomach cramps. (The thing is, I knew from the start that McDonalds fish burger was going to make me sick).
Sodium chloride is essential for human cell osmosis and transport of nutrients.
Concluding: I use salt to enhance the flavour of my meals, but I use it wisely, sprinkling It over meat or salad. I have no health problems whatsoever. JUNK FOOD is the real danger.
“Sodium chloride is essential”
So how have humans survived for thousands of years without it?
Well, for the same reason Neanderthals didn’t eat chocolate and human race has survived well over 2000 years eating it.
I’m not stating you can’t survive without salt, but you can definitely have a healthy lifestyle consuming it. That’s a fact.
Just in your previous post you stated “Sodium chloride is essential for human cell osmosis and transport of nutrients”
Now your claim is that sodium chloride isn’t essential.
Hi Henry,
you should read between lines but my fault, definitely. When I meant “..I’m not stating you can’t survive without salt..” I’m willing to indicate that you definitely can survive without ADDING salt to fresh food.
Animals travel for miles to get sodium salt. As Chris has said, a certain amount is necessary for the body to work. No salt at all leads to death.
Here is the real (and ignored and censored) science of salt:
http://www.science20.com/entropy_and_sodium_intakes_wicked_problems_health_sciences-120016
I take that you didn’t catch any fish if you had to eat McFish!!!! So sad. Please find a good fish market
Hi Chris
Dr. Adel Tel-Oren has a healthy salt very high in sulphur. Have you heard about it? I wanted some, but apparently he sells it only to other doctors. I would like to get my sulphur by eating salt rather than by taking MSM. What do you think of this?
Thanks,
Carolle
Go ahead and take the MSM, it supplies sulfur in ways associated with proteins for building connective tissues, making them cross link and stretch properly, and has a good reputation for reducing back and joint pain. Eggs also have sulfur based proteins in them. Look up taking sulfur as an electrolyte separately.
I can’t say for certain, I only have a PhD in organic chemistry (please note heavy sarcasm).
Sodium and chloride, as the electrolytes (Na+ and Cl-), are essential nutrients for human life. The body specifically uses Na+ and Cl-, neither of which contains carbon (organic simply means a compound containing carbon). I can say this with 100% confidence, and that some of the “organic”/carbon containing forms of sodium are toxins – like methyl-sodium (CH3Na [contains carbon and sodium]).
The ocean is 90%+ Na+ and Cl- – http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/whysalty.html – it’s essential for oceanic life.
In concluding, the body uses inorganic sodium, as found in salt. Please educate yourselves.
Clearly you understand nothing of photosynthesis and carbon containing minerals in plants. Go back to school.
Mrs Molly Jones, Mrs Neanderthal, Mrs Cave Dweller and Mrs Hunter Gatherer met at Tesco, where they waited centuries to buy some salt and gossip about how clever Ms Jones was with a newly acquired PhD, before they expired.
Meanwhile Mr Paleo and other hunter gatherers went off foraging for plant based food and animals that had eaten plant based foods, to get the sodium and chloride salts their metabolism required.
In concluding, the body used sodium, as found in plant material and animals that have eaten plants. Please re-educate yourself.
I don’t think anyone should eat any salt. It’s terrible for the body. Like Alexis said, it’s in plants and animals already exactly how the body uses it! It’s not how the body uses it in salt!
Everyone would benefit from not ingesting any salt ever.
People would be better off without salt. I agree with the people sayin don’t eat salt. Salt is literally a drug, like heroin. It’s probably more addicting than heroin. You people and your PhD’s are brainwashed big pharma tools!
DON’T EAT SALT!
I think animals have a natural instinct to seek out salt.
if there was enough salt plant food, why do farmers put out blocks of salt for cattle? I think people who want to keep their animals healthy have done the research.
There is a misunderstanding. There is no such thing as salt plant food. Sodium, an electrolyte, is abundant in plant based food. Chloride, another electrolyte is abundant in plant based food, both these are also available from the meat of animals that have eaten the plants.
As for the salt lick myth, this topic has been debated ad nausea in these series regarding NaCl. Seeking out industrialised salt does not equate to any animals need. Most humans cannot do without a salt fix and do the same as animals; both are seeking an addictive compound.
Do all wild animals go on the hunt for salt licks? NO. Some, yes, but not most. What farmers do is irrelevant since animals don’t behave absolutely naturally on a farm. Therefore, the pro-salt argument based on some animals allegedly seeking salt is fallacious.
Analysis of Himalayan pink salt:
https://themeadow.com/pages/minerals-in-himalayan-pink-salt-spectral-analysis
Salt is not a health risk, too much of anything can harm you. In eating too much salt the body has to overcompensate to balance itself out and that may be to the demise of a persons health. The body needs a healthy amount of sodium, sugar and water to properly balance out a diet. Think about it…..too much sugar increases fat, too much salt sustains the fat and increases high blood pressure, not enough salt and sugar and the body lacks energy because water normally flushes and replenishes. You must have all three.
Absolutely ridiculous to claim that salt is not a health risk.
Sodium chloride is a known health risk. Nobody needs it. Sodium from plant based material or the animals who ate the plants is where we have received our sodium for millennia.
Now we are supposed to believe that the toxins in salt, linked to neurological disease, are ok! Joke! No actually just plain foolish.
Wise Cave Man, you must read and learn this: In the scientific literature & media the salt has political- & a lot of pseudoscience but real science of salt we can find only in traces because it’s really CENSORED globally. It’s time to understand, teach & use some very important but forgotten & ignored knowledge; fundamental natural laws/facts & to see the sad reality. The spontaneous diffusion of Na ions into the cells & the diffusion of K ions out of the cells continuously enhance the entropy (disorder). The task of the Na/K pumps to keep constant the intracellular concentration of Na & K ions. These cellular pumps continuously use energy (ATP). Excess Na intake = excess diffusion = excess increase of entropy = excess work for pumps = excess energy expenditure against excess entropy > excess food consumption. But all the rest of our vital processes (functional processes of the cells) receive less energy because our capacity (to make energy from foods) is limited. Everything work worse in our body & this increases the incidence of all illnesses without any exception, our aging & devolution accelerate etc. this is why Na-salts are perfect foods of entropy. 10th ed. of RDA was the best recommendation ever, 500 mg/day Na! Sugars & fats are foods & are sources of energy. But entropy & Na intakes = five decades global censorship, corruption, pseudoscience & lack of real science. Excess Na intake significantly enhances the entropy because the surface (billions) of cells is extreme large, this is the main risk factor of diabetes 1-2, overweight, NCDs etc. & our devolution is a considerable fact too. The law of entropy is the fiercest enemy of life & is our fiercest enemy too. NaCl isn’t food for humans but is perfect food of entropy. Every mmol excess Na & the wrong Na/K ratio & other wrong ratios increase more the entropy in our every cell, but the specialists talk about these rarely or NEVER. Excess Na intake doesn’t increase the oxidative pathway, but a critical surplus switches the anaerobic glycolysis on, in our every cell & we produce cytotoxic lactic acid. This is the Sodium-Induced Cellular Anaerobic Glycolysis. All of our vital processes & organs work worse (heart, brain, regulating systems, immune system etc.) & our cells are dying. We haven’t enough energy & enough time for the regeneration because we enhance the entropy in our every cell, day by day, again & again. The average lifetime of our cells shortens. Faster the telomeres run out. Our aging accelerates. We get sick often & we will die soon. Logical consequence: the unnecessary salt increases the incidence of all illnesses without any exception! This is the no named Sodium-Induced Disorder Syndrome. The entropy law finds our weak point or points & ravages mainly there, but increases the disorder in every cell in our body. We are no uniform, so other risk factors & circumstances affect the individual consequences. The growing entropy is our number one public enemy on every level; physical & mental health & social level globally. The evolution of life on Earth, our history & our entire individual life is a continuous war against entropy. But we, humans started our devolution = the entropy is growing in human genome. Even we nourish the entropy in our every cell (fundamentals of our existence) but the health scientists don’t talk & write about this. This is really a fatal error. Non-communicable knowledge is too much in salt science, it’s time to change that, because we will die out within 250 years!
“The Center for Science in the Public Interest in 1978 petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the generally recognized as safe status and limit salt, … It is unfortunate that government health authorities have not shown the will to act.”
http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v71/n1/full/5001951a.html
But the CSPI is weak, because they don’t use the already existing knowledge. This is awesome guilty irresponsibility &/or astonishing ignorance. Optimal ratios & quantities are in human milk. From every viewpoint the human milk is an evolutionary perfect food, including minimal energy expenditure of the Na/K pump & kidney of babies = possible minimum „entropy-transfer” into babies = healthy growing with maximal economy. So, the human milk is perfect guide to calculate optimal adult intakes. But the scientists ignore these facts. The health sciences made experimental animals from the humanity. The entropy is nourished in us with Na-salts, but they don’t talk & write about this. They are treating only the symptoms & consequences of the Sodium-Induced Disorder. Without real salt science – evidence based medicine & really preventive medicine doesn’t exist. Sodium recommendation is bad, education is astonishingly bad, the strategy against obesity, NCDs etc. is bad. True science of salt exists only in traces in the scientific literature, & in some articles even the traces are concealed & censored. I collected the most important evidences (over 60 references) of the above ones in my article on science20:
http://www.science20.com/entropy_and_sodium_intakes_wicked_problems_health_sciences-120016
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2015/comments/readCommentDetails.aspx?CID=3982
http://horizon-magazine.eu/article/science-common-language-commissioner-moedas_en.html#comment-1945038947
Zoltan, a bit of advice: Paragraph breaks are your friend.
And prozac
What Zoltan is saying is true, especially regarding cell entropy. The excess cellular sodium displaces cellular potassium (and calcium, which leads to high-calcium urine, which can cause kidney stones) creating entropy and ultimately prematurely aging the cell itself. So not only does the fluid-retaining saltified cells force the heart to work harder, the displaced potassium also has a deleterious effect on the hearth.
For 3.5 years I had a Cardiologist having me take diuretics and on a no salt/low salt diet. I had no need of the diuretics after 2 months but the Cardiologist insisted that I must maintain taking them. I developed severe sinus tachycardia and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis 18 months ago. I kept complaining to the Cardiologist that I thought the problems were due to low mineral levels due to the diuretics and no salt/low salt diet. He did not listen. For the past 6 weeks I have been taking 2 teaspoons of Himalayan Salt per day. The sinus tachycardia has disappeared and the Hashimoto’s anti-bodies are declining. The human body requires sodium. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.
Totally agree, as does everyone here I believe as sodium is an essential electrolyte.
I think the whole point that people are trying to make is that, we must try to avoid the copious amounts of toxic mineral depleted salt in processed junk food.
I know cardiologists aren’t nutritionists, but I find it hard to believe that one would tell you not to eat vegetables, some of which have ample salts of sodium content and ample salts of chloride content in them for a daily requirement.
If you knew you had no need of the diuretics after two months, it would have been wise to stop.
After all you knew and now that you know sodium is required, it would be wise to get it from plant material, after all your Himalayan salt is virtually all sodium chloride, not necessarily a good compound for unhealthy hearts, despite the immediate benefits of topping up your sodium needs. In the long term it could be as unwise to consume more sodium than is actually needed.
I am surprise your bloods didn’t alert you to the kidney problems you would have faced by having sodium requirements below your obvious need.
Me too! I also had a low sodium status that included two months of being slightly dizzy and unable to concentrate. I run distances regularly and don’t live in air conditioning. This dizziness was quickly reversed by taking 1/8 tsp of Morton’s Lite Salt which is half sodium and half potassium chlorides. Now I’m sleeping better and recovering faster from exercise. I’m salting my food to taste regularly, but its hard to imagine taking 1-2 teaspoons per day of NaCl still. One of my references was “Prescription for Nutritional Healing” by Balch and Balch which has a quick read on the symptoms.
Haywood.
I was put on highest doses of Xarelto by my cardiologist. Doses for very heavy people.
I weighed about 130. Began to lose my balance, unable to finish sentences, couldn’t walk or speak in a straight line. Something radically wrong.
I was almost done in by my primary doctor’s and cardiologist’s refusal to help me gradually reduce and then get off Xarelto. (only later was I aware of all the lawsuits from patients on this med) Finally, when I learned there was a window . .almost a 3 day window – -of time after which, if i quit cold turkey on my own, I would not be at great risk of stroke. I did quit cold turkey and went straight to the ER. It took 4 hours for the ER docs to decide to admit me so that I could be monitored while being given a short-acting substitute med to ease me off of that terrible drug.
Either your doctor is not hearing you or he is getting a benefit from the drug company based on how much of that stuff he prescribes or he doesn’t give a damn.
Most likely it’s a combination of all three.
Stick to your guns
Which salt do you use Molly?
Seriously what the heck is organic sodium? Can anybody find the chemical formula for organic sodium?
I thought sodium exists as Na+ lol
Organic sodium? Does that even exist? lol
Sodium is really important for nerve conduction. Maybe that’s why the “organic sodium” group is so dumb lol
” LOL ” ? Are you referring to yourselves as:
Ludicrous Odious Luddites ?
The illiteracy of your acronyms is what some prime ministers wage war on? Perhaps you were educated elsewhere?
The problem with the studies relating longevity and other health benefits to salt intake is that the subjects weren’t on a Paleo diet. So we don’t know what the optimal salt intake is for a Paleo dieter, but we do know how much salt the Paleolithic people ate – very little.
I’ve heard that for hormonal benefits to support the adrenal system, a person should take 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt in 16 oz of water 4 times a day. Do you agree with this advice?
Hormonal benefits for all organs or “systems” don’t require sodium chloride to function harmoniously.