Too little salt might be bad for your heart
Recommendations on sodium intake for cardiovascular health: conviction or evidence?
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Salt is important for your body, but too much or too little might hurt your heart. Eating whole foods like fruits and veggies gives you good potassium and less salt naturally. Some experts think telling people to eat less than 5 grams of salt a day might be too strict and could even be risky.
Surprising Findings
A daily sodium intake of 2g (5g salt) may be too low and potentially harmful.
This directly contradicts decades of public health advice that pushed for <5g salt/day as a universal target — suggesting the lower end might be dangerous, not protective.
Practical Takeaways
Replace processed snacks with potassium-rich whole foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, spinach, and beans — this naturally balances sodium and improves heart health.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Salt is important for your body, but too much or too little might hurt your heart. Eating whole foods like fruits and veggies gives you good potassium and less salt naturally. Some experts think telling people to eat less than 5 grams of salt a day might be too strict and could even be risky.
Surprising Findings
A daily sodium intake of 2g (5g salt) may be too low and potentially harmful.
This directly contradicts decades of public health advice that pushed for <5g salt/day as a universal target — suggesting the lower end might be dangerous, not protective.
Practical Takeaways
Replace processed snacks with potassium-rich whole foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, spinach, and beans — this naturally balances sodium and improves heart health.
Publication
Journal
European heart journal
Year
2020
Authors
K. Lechner, H. Schunkert
Related Content
Claims (6)
Eating more potassium-rich foods like bananas and spinach can help lower your blood pressure and make it less likely you'll have a stroke or heart problem—especially if you're eating a lot of salty foods.
Eating more whole foods like fruits, veggies, and nuts—while cutting back on salty, sugary, and processed stuff—might be a better and easier way to improve your health than just trying to eat less salt.
Eating too much salt might raise your blood pressure, but we’re not sure if cutting back on salt actually helps prevent heart problems because no big, fair studies have proven it yet.
Too little or too much salt might both be bad for your heart — studies show people who eat way too little or way too much salt may be more likely to die from heart problems.
Eating more potassium-rich foods like bananas, spinach, and potatoes is linked to a lower risk of heart problems.