Americans have a love-hate relationship with salt. We’re told to avoid it for the sake of our hearts, but then constantly barraged by advertisements hawking the latest salty snack.
Food scientists recommend a daily salt intake of just 2.3 grams per day. And yet, we know the average person still consumes 3.5 grams of salt per day, and salt volumes in commercial foods are on the rise.
It’s almost as if our bodies intuitively know how much sodium we need — and the guidelines provided by select groups don’t take into account the nuances of digestion.
Just how much does sodium impact our metabolic health? And are low-sodium diets truly good for our hearts?
Let’s take a closer look.
How salt interacts with the body
These days, the sodium in our diets rarely stems from table salt. The highest level of sodium in processed food comes from:
- Monosodium glutamate or MSG, which ‘enhances’ the flavor of savory foods
- Sodium nitrite, which acts as a preservative and a coloring agent
- Sodium benzoate, which you can find as an additive in pickles, ketchup, and fruit juices
It’s a good idea to read the ingredients label so you can check for these additives before buying packaged food.
In any case, the sodium you eat has an almost immediate impact on your body. You need sodium to transmit nerve impulses, contract and relax muscle fibers in the heart and blood vessels, and above all, maintain a proper fluid balance. If you don’t have enough, your body sends a mix of chemical and hormonal signals telling the body to retain salt. If you consume salt in excess, your kidneys flush out the extra and retain a small amount for daily function.
But what happens if the body can’t get rid of enough sodium?
Salt begins to accumulate in the fluid between your cells. This causes your body to hold onto excess water, since the kidneys need a special ratio of water to salt. Now with extra water circulating around your body, your veins, arteries, and heart expand to accommodate the increase. This may stiffen your vessels, increase your blood pressure, and ultimately lead to heart attacks or strokes.
This is the scenario we hear again and again from traditional doctors and food advertisements. To avoid the possibility of high salt intake in your diet, you’re strongly encouraged to try a low-salt alternative.
Unfortunately, the idea of the low-salt diet is absolutely flawed to its core.
Research shows that too little salt can actually lead to higher blood glucose over time. According to Dr. DiNicolantonio, author of The Salt Fix, low sodium diets cause sugar cravings, insulin resistance, low blood pressure, and arrhythmias (irregular beating of the heart). Ironically, it can also cause hypertension, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid.
We also know that too little salt can potentially impact:
- Fertility
- Bone growth
- Muscle development
So what’s the real impact of salt on metabolic health? Salt is good for you — but salt from processed foods is not.
What I’m talking about here is excess sodium intake — the kind caused by years of eating processed food and consuming the hidden salts in restaurant foods. Not only does this diet wreak havoc on your heart, but it also destroys your metabolic health with preservatives, dyes, and sugars both real and fake.
We need salt to keep our bodies running. But we don’t need salt just to make ‘near food objects’ palatable.
The real secret is learning to balance your salt intake so you don’t consume too much or too little.
That’s why I call it the Goldilocks Rule — finding the ‘just right’ amount of salt for your body.
The Goldilocks Rule of salt intake
Like many other nutrients we eat on a daily basis, salt requires us to balance a fine line of too much and too little.
Consume too much, and you need to contend with hypertension, bloating, and possibly heart disease.
Consume too little sodium, and you may experience poor muscle growth and high blood sugar, as well as hyponatremia (think nausea, weakness, and potentially coma).
Generally speaking, adults should consume 3,000-5,000 milligrams of salt per day, according to Dr. DiNicolantonio’s research. This doesn’t just apply to added salt — it includes the natural salts already in your food.
Children may crave more salt than adults due to the needs of their developing bodies. As long as you’re presenting them with whole, real foods, there’s little reason to worry about them overindulging in processes or highly-refined salts.
Keep in mind these are general suggestions rather than hard and fast rules. If you are an extremely active adult or work an extremely active job, you may want to boost your salt intake to 5,000 or 7,000 milligrams to accommodate what you lose through perspiration.
If you’re a lower activity individual or have a history of hypertension, you may want to be mindful of the added salt you consume. Listen to your body and make adjustments accordingly — regular blood work is a great way to mark your progress.
All this said, I’m still of the opinion that eating whole, real foods can help you find the ‘just right’ amount of intake.
If you’re willing to make some lifestyle changes, you can have your salt and eat it, too.
Suggestions for metabolically healthy salt intake
Instructions for eating ‘one teaspoon of salt per day’ are about as useful as the food pyramid. No one has the time or equipment to measure sodium content this way — which is why I suggest a more holistic approach.
If you want to ensure a metabolically healthy salt intake, you need to:
- Avoid processed food as much as possible. Since 70% of the sodium we eat comes from processed meals or restaurant food, working on our cooking skills is the best way to maintain our health.
- Restore your electrolytes. If you feel your body is craving salt, there’s a good chance you need electrolytes — not a salty snack. You can combine lemon juice, water, a pinch of salt, and herbs like lemon balm and peppermint to give your body the boost it needs.
- Choose the raw versions of nuts and seeds to keep your sodium intake down. Roasted nut mixes usually contain seed oils as well, which is equally bad for your metabolic health.
- Get blood work to mark your progress and determine the impact salt has on your body. Research shows some people are more sensitive to salt than others, and approximately 50% of people with hypertension may have salt-related sensitivity.
- Eat whole, real foods as often as possible. The natural salts in raw hamburger are far lower than what you’d get in pre-cooked, pre-seasoned frozen dinners. Remember: cooking at home is the best way to know exactly what’s going into your food.
- Buy high-quality salts with more natural origins. There’s a big difference between highly processed, bleached table salt and natural sea salt for example.
Salt can have a major impact on our metabolic health, and knowing where to draw the line can make major improvements on your blood pressure (and other metabolic health factors, for that matter). By avoiding processed foods and shopping with wisdom, you can set yourself up for a lifetime of success.
If you’re concerned about other aspects of your metabolic health, I encourage you to take my metabolic syndrome calculator to identify space for improvement. I’ll email you a copy of your results so you can work on meeting your goals, then send over information about my metabolic health coaching groups.