SALT: Why it DOESN’T cause high blood pressure, and restricting it is silly.
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![SALT: Why it DOESN’T cause high blood pressure, and restricting it is silly.
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If you’d like a more in detail and visually appealing version of the salt hoax, check out our YouTube video that just dropped on the topic: youtu.be
Everyone has heard this: you shouldn’t eat too much salt! It’s gonna give you high blood pressure! It’s ingrained into the culture at this point. It’s one of those things doctors will just regurgitate without second thought.
This idea really caught on with the DASH diet, which showed that blood pressure could be lowered with a reduction in salt intake. However, let’s take a deeper dive to uncover the truth here.
The main effect was seen by taking people off of the trash standard Western diet and giving them an improved overall diet. The restriction of sodium within the diet only resulted in 1 to 3 point changes in blood pressure.
These figures are not comparable to the levels of blood pressure seen in hypertension. Consider that a healthy blood pressure is considered to be at or under 120/80, with first stage hypertension being diagnosed at 140/90 and severe hypertension at 180/110.
Keep in mind that these are not minor reductions in salt intake, we’re talking about cutting your intake by over 60% for a reduction in blood pressure that you probably wouldn’t even care about in real life.
This has been replicated as well. The latest meta analysis of salt reduction trials showed a similar trend: slashing salt intake by 2/3rds barely lowers blood pressure at all. Even if you already have hypertension, this intervention barely makes a dent.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
More importantly, salt intake in this study and others is inversely correlated with longevity. That’s right, eating double the amount of salt your government overlords tell you to is associated with the greatest longevity.
Higher salt intakes may cause minor rises in blood pressure, and its restriction minor drops, because it tends to attract water to it, increasing the total volume of blood. However, simplifying hypertension in this way is missing the forest for the trees.
If we use this logic, we should also be telling people to restrict their water intake, since this can also lower blood pressure by the same mechanism, and pounding excess water raises it! But we all know that will never happen. tandfonline.com, ahajournals.org
Restricting salt intake induces a key stress signaling system known as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which helps regulate the amount of fluid and minerals in the blood.
This also activates the sympathetic nervous system and its associated stress hormones. This is quite ironic given that high blood pressure tends to be driven by stress to begin with!
Actually, it’s not ironic. They know exactly what they’re doing. Most of big pharma’s best selling hypertension drugs act by inhibiting these same pathways that the restriction of salt activates!
Take for example ACE inhibitors. These prevent the conversion of angiotensin I into the active and more pro-inflammatory angiotensin II. Where does angiotensin I come from? The RAAS!
Then you have things like beta blockers, which directly antagonize the so-called receptors that these stress hormones use to elicit their function. Of raising blood pressure. The same hormones that rise when you restrict salt.
Oh yeah, in addition to lowering stress, salt intake also tends to be thermogenic, meaning it is a metabolic enhancer, and it improves insulin sensitivity. Stress and poor metabolism are the real root cause of hypertension. Just ask pharma!
The cognitive dissonance that this has created is insane. At least with things like heart disease, they tell you to eat the seed oils and take the statins, both of which lower cholesterol. AT LEAST those don’t contradict each other.
Of course, it is important to get good quality salt as well. Most sea salts are good, I’d probably stay away from the commercial salt with anti-caking agents and such.
I’d love to hear all of your experiences. What’s your salt intake like? What salt do you use? Feel better with less or more?
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