Why Is Salt Bad for You? Learn About the Health Dangers

Table salt is made up of two minerals - sodium and chloride (about 40% sodium and 60% chloride). Salt is widely used as a seasoning to add flavor to food. It is also used for curing meat, as a food preservative, and as a binding, baking, and thickening agent.

Why is Salt Unhealthy?

Salt is not bad for you when consumed within limits. In fact, you need salt to survive. While it is commonly known how harmful excessive salt intake can be, low blood sodium levels (hyponatremia) are also detrimental to a person’s health. Sodium and chloride are essential nutrients that play important roles in many bodily functions.

Remember that excessive salt intake through daily diets can raise your blood pressure, though it does not usually lead to hypernatremia (high blood sodium levels); this condition is generally caused by kidney disease or dehydration caused by diarrhea, poor fluid intake, or using water pills.

We need small amounts (about 500 milligrams) of sodium every day for the body to function properly. This important nutrient is needed for muscle contractions, nerve impulses, heart rhythm, brain function, and electrolyte and fluid balance.

However, too much sodium chloride (salt) can be harmful to health. High salt intake is linked to serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke.

Negative Health Impacts of Excess Salt

Hypertension

The human body holds most of its sodium in the blood and the fluid around cells. Sodium draws water into the bloodstream. When you eat too much sodium, it causes more water to enter your blood. This increases blood volume, which places more pressure against the walls of your blood vessel, resulting in hypertension (high blood pressure).

Organ Damage

Hypertension increases the workload of the heart. If left untreated, high blood pressure can cause damage to the arteries, thereby increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease such as stroke, heart attack, and heart failure. In addition, research has shown that consumption of excess salt is linked to health risks concerning the heart, aorta, and kidneys without increasing blood pressure.

Kidney Damage

The kidneys are vital organs in your body that filter blood and remove excess fluid from the body to generate urine. A balance of sodium and potassium is needed for this process. A diet high in salt can disrupt this electrolyte balance, causing the kidneys to retain more fluid. This leads to increased blood volume and high blood pressure. In turn, high blood pressure can put extra strain on the kidney, leading to scarring and, thus, reducing kidney function.

People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at higher risk of volume overload because their kidneys cannot efficiently excrete sodium. As a result, CKD patients are at higher risk for high blood pressure, which can lead to other cardiovascular complications. In CKD patients, high sodium intake also increases protein excreted in the urine (proteinuria).

While being conscious of sodium intake is essential for everyone, it is even more crucial for those with CKD to follow strict restrictions on their sodium intake.

Increased Cancer Risk

A meta-analysis of studies from more than 20 countries found that higher salt intake is linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer. The World Health Organization lists processed meats like bacon, sausages, ham, hot dogs, cold cuts, and deli meats as carcinogenic (cancer-causing). These processed and cured meats, which have a notoriously high sodium content, are linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer.

What are the symptoms of too much salt?

Bloating

Sodium has an effect of pulling water into cells. When you eat excess sodium, it leads to fluid retention in your body. This can result in bloating with puffy or swollen feet or legs as well as swelling in the hands, eyes, and abdomen area.

Increased Thirst

It’s common to feel thirsty after eating salty foods. This may be because the body binds the excess sodium to water and eliminates it from the body through urine. The extra urine output results in increased thirst. However, research has not shown that high sodium levels make people thirstier.

Poor Sleep Quality

Eating too much salt, especially 2-3 hours before bedtime, can lead to poor sleep because of increased blood pressure, excessive thirst, and nighttime urination.

Headaches

Eating a large amount of sodium can lead to dehydration and high blood pressure, both of which can trigger headaches in some people.

High Blood Pressure

A high-salt diet is one of the major risk factors for hypertension. Our bodies are salt sensitive. Salt sensitivity means changes in blood pressure mirror salt intake. Therefore, controlling sodium intake can result in a decreased risk of high blood pressure and related health problems.

If you consistently get a high blood pressure reading at home, make an appointment to see your doctor. Your provider may recommend lifestyle changes such as eating less sodium, or they may prescribe antihypertensive drugs to reduce blood pressure.

Recommended Daily Salt Intake

Sodium Intake Guidelines for Adults

Dietary guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are for healthy adults to consume less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium daily. This is equal to about one teaspoon of table salt.

People with pre-existing health conditions should speak to their healthcare providers about how much sodium is safe for them to consume. For example, your doctor may recommend that you limit salt intake to 1,500 mg per day if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or kidney disease.

Recommended Amount of Sodium for Children and Adolescents

The daily recommended intake of sodium for children and teenagers is based on age:

Ages 1–3: Less than 1,200 mg per day
Ages 4–8: Less than 1,500 mg per day
Ages 9–13: Less than 1,800 mg per day
Ages 14–18: Less than 2,300 mg per day

How to Minimize Salt Intake

On average, adult Americans consume 1.5 teaspoons of salt every day. This is equivalent to a daily sodium intake of 3,400 mg and is almost 50% more than the recommended amount of daily sodium intake. Surveys have also found that 90% of children and adolescents in America are eating too much sodium. Here are some tips for reducing salt intake and staying within limits.

Read Nutrition Labels

As mentioned above, the recommended daily value (DV) for sodium intake in adults is 2,300 mg per day. Make it a habit to read the nutrition facts label and check what percentage of the daily value of sodium each food you eat contains. If one serving size of a food contains 5% DV or lower, it is considered low-sodium. If one serving size of a food contains 20% DV or higher, it is high-sodium.

Note: Certain food additives such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and monosodium glutamate (MSG) and food preservatives like sodium nitrite and sodium benzoate also contain sodium and can add to your daily intake.

Make Healthy Food Choices

Surveys show that over three-fourths of a person’s salt intake comes from prepared and processed foods. To lower the amount of sodium you consume, choose foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Limit intake of pizzas, burgers, tacos, burritos, deli meat sandwiches, packaged noodles, savory snacks (crackers, chips, popcorn), and canned soups and vegetables.

Replace salty snacks like nuts, sweets, chips, and pretzels with healthier choices like celery, cucumber, and carrot sticks. These measures, when combined with daily exercise, can also help you maintain a healthy weight.

Note: Salt can be a hidden ingredient in many of your favorite daily foods. Even if you don’t taste the saltiness, it still adds to your daily sodium intake, so its important to be mindful of this when grocery shopping. Certain foods like cereals, pastries, or even bread contain sodium even though they don’t taste salty.

Cook at Home with Low-Sodium Ingredients

Just one fast food meal can contain as much as 1,500 mg of sodium. You can lower your salt intake by eating home-cooked meals. When cooking at home, limit the use of packaged sauces and instant (ready-made) products like rice, noodles, and pasta. Cook using fresh poultry, seafood, and meat rather than processed meats. Buy canned vegetables with “no added salt” on the label, or rinse sodium-containing canned foods before eating them.

Use Herbs and Spices to Add Flavor to Food

Table salt added to food while cooking can add to your daily salt and sodium intake. Choose herbs, spices, and seasoning blends that are salt-free or low-sodium to add flavor to your food.

Note: Sea salt has the same sodium content as table salt. However, some sea salts and Kosher salt have a larger crystal size and may contain less sodium by volume (in each teaspoon of salt).

FAQs About Salt and Health

What damage does salt do to the body?

Long-term damage to the body from high sodium intake includes an increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, kidney disease, and stomach cancer. Studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine have found 1-2 million deaths from cardiovascular disease globally can be attributed to high salt intake (too much sodium in the diet).

What are signs of too much salt?

Signs of too much salt include bloating, puffy or swollen feet and ankles, headaches, and poor sleep.

Which organ is too much salt bad for?

Too much salt is especially bad for the heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. However, high salt intake can negatively affect nearly every organ system in the body.

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