Why the War on Salt Is Dangerous to Your Health

Dr. Joseph Mercola explains why the medical establishment's war on salt is dangerous to your health.

The theory that salt is bad for you and contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease is an idea that has become more or less cemented as dogma. Alas, the war on salt has had a number of drawbacks and unintended consequences.

For starters, evidence shows having the correct potassium to sodium balance influences your risk for hypertension and heart disease to a far greater extent than high sodium alone, and the Western diet tends to be lacking in potassium. Read more

Eating Too LITTLE Salt May INCREASE Your Risk of a Heart Attack or Stroke

Here's another example of the "scientific consensus" being wrong:  A new study found that eating too little salt could increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. This would not have surprised our ancestors, just as the recent findings that low-fat diets are unhealthy would not have.

It has long been held that a diet high in salt is dangerous to the heart, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke.

But, in a dramatic U-turn, the scientific evidence has suggested the opposite can also be true.

A global study has found that contrary to past belief, low-salt diets may not be beneficial.

Rather, they can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death, compared with average salt consumption. Read more

Salt Is Good for You

Mark Sisson says the scientific evidence shows that salt is not bad for you, but essential to good health.

Other than saturated fat, I can’t think of a nutrient that’s been so universally maligned and demonized as salt. All the experts hate it and recommend that we get as little of it as possible. They even all seem to have their own little anti-salt slogans. The American Diabetes Association recommends between 2300 and 1500 mg of sodium per day (“Be Sodium Savvy“). The American Heart Association wants you eating less than 1500 mg per day (“Shaking the Salt Habit“) and claims that 97% of young people already eat way too much salt. The other ADA – the American Dietetic Association – also recommends between 2300 and 1500 mg, but their slogan is far inferior (“Slice Your Sodium Intake“). It’s quite the pile-on, isn’t it? Read more