Health Claims

Salt-reduction health rules aren't working as well as they should because food companies and shaky science are getting in the way.

The debate over whether cutting salt is good for you isn't real science—it's mostly caused by bad research, biased scientists, and shady industry influence.

Eating too much salt is behind about one in three high blood pressure cases around the world and may be linked to nearly 2 million deaths every year. Cutting back on salt can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart problems and early death.

Even though some new studies are questioning it, experts still have good reason to believe that eating less salt is a smart move for most people in the U.S.

Some recent studies say cutting salt might not help, but they have big flaws—so we probably shouldn't change public health advice based on them.

Eating less than 1500 mg of salt a day might help keep your heart healthy and lower your chances of getting high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association.

City-dwelling adults in Cameroon are excreting way more salt in their urine than people living in the forest who hunt and gather food — more than double — which probably means they're eating a lot more salt in their diets.

People from a traditional hunter-gatherer group in Cameroon don’t see their blood pressure go up as much with age compared to city-dwelling adults from another group, suggesting that living a traditional lifestyle might help keep blood pressure in check as people get older.

In city-dwelling Bantu adults in Cameroon, higher blood pressure tends to go hand-in-hand with more salt coming out in their urine — and this link still holds true even when accounting for age, weight, and belly size.

City-living Bantu adults in Cameroon are way more likely to have high blood pressure than Pygmy people in the countryside — 28% vs just 3.3% — suggesting that city life might be raising their risk.

In adults from Cameroon, the more salt they have in their urine, the more likely they are to have high blood pressure — every little bit of extra salt is tied to a slightly higher chance of high blood pressure, even after considering age, weight, and belly size.

People who eat very little salt rarely get high blood pressure, and their blood pressure doesn’t go up as they age. But in other places where people eat more salt—even if they’re just as slim or drink the same amount of alcohol—high blood pressure is way more common. So, salt might be the big reason why.

People in four remote groups have lower blood pressure, and they also tend to weigh less and drink little or no alcohol. This might be why their heart health is better compared to other groups.

People in remote, pre-industrial communities eat way less salt—between 1 and 3 grams a day—compared to over 9 grams in modern industrialized places, based on urine tests that measure salt levels.

In some remote communities that live without modern industrial lifestyles, people don’t get high blood pressure as they age — and it’s super rare, suggesting it might not be a normal part of aging everywhere.

Some remote groups in Brazil, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea have much lower blood pressure than most people around the world — around 103 over 63, compared to the usual 120 over 74.

Weighing yourself before and after exercise can help athletes figure out how much fluid and salt they need to replace, so they stay properly hydrated without drinking too much or too little.

If athletes only drink light fluids like water during long workouts, they might not rehydrate fully and could get dangerously low on salt or suffer heat cramps.

Some athletes sweat out a lot of salt, and because everyone's different, a few need to eat more salt to stay healthy and avoid serious problems like low sodium or heat illness.

You don’t need to replace all the salt you lose during long workouts because your kidneys hold onto salt to balance things out. But if you need to recover fast—like within a day—eating more salt might help your body get back to normal quicker.

It's not just about salt — how your body balances salt and water together is what really affects hydration and prevents problems like low sodium or cramps during exercise.

If endurance athletes drink a lot during long workouts and also take in sodium, it might help prevent low blood salt levels — but it probably won’t make them perform better just by itself.

Drinking a salty drink before working out in the heat might help your body hold onto more water and stay hydrated, but it might taste bad and be hard to drink a lot of.

Athletes don’t need to eat more salt than couch potatoes—our bodies adjust how much salt we lose, and most athletes already get plenty from their food.