Is Salt Really Bad For You?

Is Salt Really Bad For You?

There was been a lot a bad mouthing of salt in the media over the last number of years. Salt intake has been blamed for high blood pressure among other things. But is this really true?

Despite what you hear on your television, it is not true. Your body is pretty amazing. It makes adjustments all the time behind the scenes to prevent your body from getting out of balance. The same is true of your body and your intake of salt. You see there is a hormone in your body called aldosterone. One of its prime functions is to cause the kidney to conserve sodium for your bodily functions. Yes, your body does need sodium. But if you take in too much sodium then aldosterone isn’t released (because you don’t need any more sodium) and your body will excrete the excess sodium. As a result of this hormone the sodium balance in your body will remain normal even when you take into too much salt.
If you eat too much salt your body will get rid of the salt it doesn’t require and it you eat too little salt then your body will try to retain all of the salt that it can get its hands on. This happens with healthy individuals who don’t have blood pressure issues.

If you are salt sensitive or you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension) then you may be one of the few who would benefit from controlling your salt intake. There is about 20 percent of the population that is salt sensitive. However, that means that the majority of us (even those who suffer from hypertension) will not benefit from decreasing the amount of salt that we consume.

Even if you are salt sensitive you might not actually get much of a decrease in blood pressure even if you do lower your salt intake. You see we are too quick to assume something for the entire population just because a few in a test group respond in a certain way.

In fact, the opposite might actually be true. If you are very active (athlete, fitness enthusiast, etc) then you might actually benefit from a high intake of salt. How can this be? Well a high salt intake can result in more overall blood volume and flow to your muscles who are hard at work. This is extremely important because it is your blood that delivers much needed oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. If you are in the habit of drinking something that is high in amino acids before a workout. The greater blood flow will deliver more aminos to your muscles allowing them to synthesize protein more effectively and to recover faster.

Another benefit of salt is that it is used to get potassium to the cell membranes of your muscle tissues. Without going into a bunch of science suffice it to say that without enough salt your body will have to try to get potassium to your cell membranes in another fashion that is not nearly as efficient. Potassium will help with preventing muscle cramping, etc.
You have probably heard it said that if you take in too much salt that you will retain water and look and feel bloated. It is true that salt will cause you to retain water initially but this is not a permanent condition. Remember, when we talked about aldosterone. Well when the bloating occurs, aldosterone will sit on the sidelines and the excess water will then be removed when you go to the bathroom. With the excess water will also go the excess salt.

So decreasing your salt intake is probably not going to do much for you blood pressure and it may actually help your performance if you are more active than most. Salt gets a bad rap for no reason. It makes your food taste better as well.

Isabel De Los Rios expands on the myth that salt is bad for you in this video. In the video she shares 3 of her favorite fat burning foods and talks more about the salt myth.

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