Why some people have super low blood pressure

I Read Every Electrolyte Study. The Industry Is Lying.

Menno Henselmans

People around the world tend to eat more salt than doctors recommend—usually 3 to 5 grams a day instead of the suggested 2 to 2.4 grams—because we naturally like the taste of salt, so we keep eating it even when we know we shouldn't.

Our bodies evolved to handle very little salt because our ancestors, like hunter-gatherers, didn’t eat much of it—usually less than a gram a day.

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.

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.

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.