People with high blood pressure are often told to eat a low-sodium diet. But a diet that’s too low in sodium may actually increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, a review of studies has found.
Current guidelines recommend a daily maximum of 2.3 grams of sodium a day — the amount found in a teaspoon of salt — for most people, and less for the older people or those with hypertension.
Researchers reviewed four observational studies that included 133,118 people who were followed for an average of four years. The scientists took blood pressure readings, and estimated sodium consumption by urinalysis. The review is in The Lancet.
Read the New York Times Article here.
Now, that does not mean you can begin to start adding more salt to your food or buy foods that have high salt content!
The type of salt you use is very important. Table salt is devoid of the natural minerals found in naturally derived salt and should be avoided. Sea salt on the other hand has high amounts of minerals that at typically more naturally occurring but run the risk of being contaminated and altered in ways that change the nutrient content. Himalayan salt is a type of rock salt mined from ancient salt beds in the Himalayan mountains. Since these salt beds are ancient an dried, they don’t have the contamination risk of modern sea salts and contain dozens of other trace minerals.
So if you love salt, stick to Himalayan salt. Natural salt doesn’t deserve the bad reputation that table salt has earned it, but it does need to be consumed in ratio with other minerals like magnesium and selenium and as part of a varied, nutrient-rich, real-food diet.