Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Is salt really bad for your blood pressure? There is a new
book by Dr. James DiNicolantonio called, “The Salt Fix: Why the Experts got it
All Wrong – And How Eating More Might Save Your Life.”
He found that patients who were on a low salt diet were
having many new symptoms like muscle fatigue, cramps, spasms and heart
palpitations. They were ordered not to add salt to food because they have high
blood pressure, yet were having all these new symptoms…those of salt
deficiency.
Historically, salt has been widely used the world over. It
was the primary way to preserve food prior to refrigeration. The rampant
increase in high blood pressure didn’t start until the early 1900’s. The rise
in hypertension, obesity and diabetes parallels a reduction in salt intake. Salt
intake has significantly decreased since the 1930’s, yet all these chronic
diseases have gone up.
Does salt intake really correlate with blood pressure? The
short answer is no. So why do doctors consistently advise reduction of salt in
hypertensive patients? The answer goes back to a flawed study done in 1953 by a
guy named Lewis Dahl. This guy, much like Ancel Keys did for the cholesterol
hoax, cherry picked a few civilizations to study, those that correlated with
his hypothesis that salt caused high blood pressure.
That leaves us with the probability that low salt
recommendations does more harm than good when looking at heart health, not just
blood pressure. Lowered salt intake changes the total cholesterol to HDL ratio,
a better predictor of heart disease, along with triglycerides and insulin. All
are worsened and the risk of heart disease goes up.
As your salt levels directly control magnesium and calcium,
both are disrupted with a low salt diet. Without enough salt, the body pulls
calcium and magnesium from the bone, butting it into the blood to help maintain
a normal sodium level. This increase helps keep sodium in the blood by
decreasing what is lost during sweating, excreting magnesium and calcium
instead of sodium.
This means a low sodium diet is bad for your health,
especially your bones and heart, because it causes the body to be depleted of
magnesium, an essential mineral for all body functions.
The American Heart Association recommends eating 1 teaspoon
(2300mg) of sodium per day and sometimes less than 2/3 tsp (1500mg) a day. This
is far too low for normal people.
Dr DiNicolantonia says a normal person with healthy kidneys
can consume at least 86 grams of salt per day, that’s 80,000 plus milligrams!
He says, “…all the studies show the highest risk of cardiovascular events and
early mortality are at a low salt intake, even versus really high amounts of
salt. I’m talking 70,000 to 80,000mg of sodium per day. The rise in
cardiovascular events may be only around 20 percent [at that rate]versus 3,000
to 4,000mg. If you go low salt [1500mg per day] the heart disease mortality can
be increased almost two fold.” That means a super high salt diet may increase
your risk of a cardiac event by 20%, but a low salt diet can increase your risk
by 200%!
Your body regulates its salt levels on its own, by giving
you a craving for salt. If you sweat and exercise a lot, use a sauna, or drink
caffeinated beverages, you automatically need more salt than usual. There is
little concern for getting too much salt, all excess salt is expelled through
the kidneys.
If you drink four cups of coffee, or its equivalent in other
caffeinated drinks, you can easily lose 1 tsp of salt in your urine daily. On a
low salt diet, this quickly puts you in a deficit in just days.
The next article will follow up on this discussion with
other ways to reduce blood pressure and maintain a healthy cardiovascular
system.