Salt Myths and Truths

The news has been telling us for years that too much salt = heart disease and that we should all cut our sodium intake…What if I told you that this was wrong? That these recommendations have been hurting people rather than helping? We eat less salt than we ever have, yet the incidence of cardiovascular disease is markedly higher than its ever been! What if I told you YOU probably aren’t eating enough salt either?

Salt is an essential mineral for the human body. It’s necessary for our heart to pump, for our stomachs to digest, for bone reformation, for cellular communication, for fluid regulation, for sending/receiving nerve impulses, and the list goes on. We MUST consume salt to survive.

This means that when our salt intake is low, it wreaks HAVOC on our bodies. Our bodies are equipped to handle high levels of salt. Its been shown again and again in the research, when you put humans on high-salt diets, they simply pee/sweat out the excess. But humans on low-salt diets? Increased chance of heat death in the elderly, increased chance of miscarriages/complications in pregnant women, lower muscle mass, lower bone density, gastro intestinal issues, neurologic disorders, chronic fatigue, headaches etc. Hmm… These sound a lot like things we see VERY often in society today… some you may have experienced yourself… coincidence?

Pre-refrigeration (-1800’s) salt was our main means of preserving food. Aka people ate a-lot of it, yet heart disease was RARE… Asian cultures (Korean especially) eat almost double the salt we do, yet have the lowest rates of heart disease on earth…

Most of us mark salt as “bad” because thats what we’ve been told, and because we all crave it constantly, it must be “addictive” too right? Wrong. Our bodies crave salt because our bodies have the amazing ability to regulate themselves. They crave it BECAUSE THEY NEED IT.

Convinced yet? Do yourself and your health a favor; Salt all your food with high-quality sea salt (it brings out flavors and aromas!) and eat fermented/pickled foods like kimchi, pickles, olives, and sauerkraut. You’ll be AMAZED at the difference in how you feel and perform…

#Salt