Time to rehabilitate salt
by Sophie Morris | 11 July 2011 | 
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We're frequently being told to cut salt out of our diet, but are the warnings too cautious?
While cooking a huge tortilla for my extended family yesterday, I made an equally huge concession: I left out the salt.
For me a decent tortilla, in fact pretty much a decent anything on the savoury agenda, needs to be cooked with a good helping of salt. I was brought up on practically salt-free cooking, but boy, when you get a proper hit of the salty stuff it sure does dig its claws in quickly.
Salt has a bad reputation
We’re told that salt is devil food: a danger to one’s health and happiness and a one-way ticket to heart disease. Yet all devilish foodstuffs have something inherently naughty about them. They probably wouldn’t taste quite so manna-ish otherwise.
I was introduced to its hydration-sapping glory as an undergrad. Of course, I had poked down many a bag of crisps or salted nuts in my time, but shaking the salt cellar enthusiastically over a plate of boiled veg was a new activity to me. Given the fact our university hall veg was boiled for about three hours, it became a necessary daily ritual.
At the time, this can’t have been a good thing, because all we ate apart from the salted veg were burgers and other processed foods, which are always high in salt.
But when I became mistress of my own kitchen once more, I realised that I could cut a deal with my inner salt addict – I would avoid most processed foods, but I could behave with sluttish abandon when it came to cooking with salt or adding it to home-cooked foods.
Salt is vital
We need salt, you see. Six grams a day, according to the experts. Very few of us won’t pick that up from a supermarket sandwich or a carton of soup, but if you do prepare all your own food at home, it is crucial you incorporate some salt into your diet.
Sea salt (the best kind) contains about 80 different minerals that the body needs, some of which are only found in salt.
We need it to balance all sorts of bodily functions, from aiding food absorption to preventing muscle cramps and maintaining bone health.
A common misconception is that a high salt intake leads to high blood pressure, whereas salt is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure, along with water, and of course the amounts matter.
Salt can prevent heart disease
Now a new study has appeared to confuse things further. A recent issue of the Journal of American Medical Association reported that not only do we need a minimum of salt in our diet, but that those who consumed a large amount of salt were in no way less healthy than those sticking to the rulebook.
As it happens, the guinea pigs with less salty diets were more likely to die from heart disease, so the study (of 3,681 healthy European men and women aged 60 or younger, for eight years) concluded that salt may well reduce the incidence of heart disease.
Those who consumed the least salt were 56% more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than the others. The participants were split into thirds, of low, medium and high salt intake. Fifty in the lowest group died from heart disease, 24 in the medium group and just ten in the high intake group.
Don’t completely ignore the salt warnings
We shouldn’t let this blind us to the findings of countless other reports, which have found salt to be a deadly killer. An Australian report in March found that eating a salty meal can significantly impair the arteries’ ability to pump blood around the body in just 30 minutes.
It is said that 17,000 lives a year in the UK could be saved by getting average salt consumption down to a few grams a day.
I’m not playing Russian roulette with a carton of finest Maldon flakes, nor am I suggesting you raise my stakes. But what these studies prove, if anything, is that the true effect of salt on the body is as yet unclear, and that eating a certain amount is vital.
We don’t need proof that salt is delicious. Sprinkled on avocado-smeared toast or a soft-boiled egg, or added to any soup or curry – you’ll feel cheated by a salt-free substitute.
And as for that tortilla…I left out the salt as a gesture to the little ones, for whom salt can be very dangerous indeed. Still, a bit of salt on their tortilla might well be a damn sight healthier than a Happy Meal. Tastier, too.
Also worth your attention:
Takeaway pizza that isn’t takeaway pizza
Comments
by LittleToSay | on 11 July 2011
I think that the absolute best is regarded as being the pink Himalayan rock salt. Apparently it's really an excellent source of many minerals, so I don't worry at all when I'm using it.
Clearly using a bit of Himalayan rock salt in the cooking is a completely different matter to eating a bag of highly salted crisps, that will do you no good whatsoever regardless of any 'ridiculous' health claims on the packet.
by Marky26 | on 11 July 2011
I think that Ms Morris is providing inaccurate information. UK guideance states not to exceed 6 grams a day, an average person does not require this amount.
In terms of sea salt being the best salt - salt is salt its just the processing which is different.
The effect of salt on the body is well documented, just pick random studies which support your argument is not really fair. Perhaps people should visit this website for some accurate information regarding salt use and health.
http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/
by rhext | on 11 July 2011
@LittleToSay: I wonder how you distinguish between the veracity of the 'ridiculous' health claims on a packet of crisps, clearly placed there for no better reason than to trick you into buying it, and the no doubt carefully researched and substantiated consumer information placed on your packet of Himalayan rock salt, benevolently printed by manufacturers only interested in alerting you to the health benefits of using their product. And not interested in flogging you really really expensive salt at all.....oh dear me no!
by amandachen | on 11 July 2011
"Sea salt (the best kind) contains about 80 different minerals that the body needs, some of which are only found in salt."
So that's not salt, is it.
by amandachen | on 11 July 2011
As for Himalayan rock salt, it's not even from the Himalayas.
by davidinnotts | on 11 July 2011
Another study: years ago, a test group of Israeli desert troops were given an ultra-low salt diet. They found that they coped well; interestingly, they stopped sweating salt altogether. And they didn't get cramps during extreme exercise, on low water rations - which was the point of the study. But - one salty meal, and they reverted.
For the rest of us, there are two key points to remember if you want to stay fit.
First, most of us have a very good tolerance for both low and high salt levels in our bodies. BUT - if you're liable to hypertension (a high blood pressure problem that's a big killer), low salt is vital. This is maybe one in five of us, and there's no test yet to find out in advance which of us need to avoid salt and which are OK. Hence the government warnings and the kinds of results in the studies quoted above, which don’t separate those with hypertension – the ones who’re worst affected.
Second, salt health problems are strongly associated with dehydration – and most of us don’t drink enough fluids (except maybe once a week for some, at the boozer). The average person should be drinking roughly half a pint an hour while awake, and more if they drink strong diuretics, like very strong tea or coffee (the caffeine) or alcoholic shorts. Hence the government’s 8-glasses-a-day warnings, which are mostly ignored. Maybe bad health is worthwhile if we don’t want to waste time peeing?
So the answer’s simple: eat as much salt as you like, provided that you drink plenty of fluids and are quite sure that hypertension happens to other people. But, in general, the less the better, and if you eat today’s usual diet, it’s impossible to eat little enough salt to have deficiency problems.
And, by the way, sea salt IS slightly more valuable as a nutrient than rock salt (plain sodium chloride) but not enough to pay the amazingly boosted prices of the likes of Maldon & Himalaya. My local health store sells it loose at 29p a pound, and it comes from a place amazingly close to Maldon, and strangely, from the same sea...
by LittleToSay | on 11 July 2011
@rhext
I'm not sure what your problem is here, and I actually quite like crisps, but I also know that they are probably one of the worst 'foods' I could possibly eat, as backed up by articles such as this one:
http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/23/study-the-best-and-worst-foods-for-weight-loss/
I don't actually use a lot of salt myself (not through fear of it), so the extra expense for some Himalayan stuff probably only sets me back about £3 per year.
by Magnificent Ageing | on 11 July 2011
I used to think exactly like you Sophie but recently I have returned to the joy of cooking and find just a little salt can make a real taste difference, so I was pleased to read the results of your research.
I am writing a book about ways to keep healthy and happy in senior years. I wonder whether you have any advice particularly for people between the ages of 50-80? I understand the issue of high blood pressure but cramp and low blood pressure are also often a problem for older people.
Excellent blog. Thank you. www.magnificentageing.com
by amandachen | on 11 July 2011
@Magnificent
Well, there's Ray Peat's article on salt. http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/salt.shtml
by davidinnotts | on 11 July 2011
Magnificent Ageing, this is not so much to do with salt, but with bad diet over a long period, resulting in - especially - cardiovascular disease. Depending on a person's actual conditions, the blocking of arteries and veins is usually caused by fat and cholesterol deposits if you're on the usual junky diet, and this generally results in high blood pressure and cramp, especially angina. But as the heart begins to function poorly under the strain, low blood pressure can also result. There are other causes, too - it's vital to check with a doctor.
The fix, speaking generally, is to swap to a diet which promotes the clearing of the junk which is 'furring up' the cardiovascular system. That's an old fix, though - our ancestors even a hundred years ago rarely had these problems, and it was their better, though similar, diet that was the difference. You simply have to follow today's government advice on health and take it a bit further:
Plenty of vegetables and some fruit - together, well over half of what you eat. Drink plenty of liquids. Eat little salt, sugar and refined starches. Keep your protein intake low. Eat only a minimum of treats. Exercise sensibly. There, that was simple, wasn't it? Look in great-grandmama's kitchen diary and you'll see it all!
I, too, am preparing a book about keeping healthy and happy, based on getting back to the best practice of a century ago, with modern science to help. It's in limited trial right now (I don't publish what doesn't work!), but it will eventually be on www.TheBadHealthDiet.com and as a book from Amazon. If you'd like to be a guinea pig and get a free trial, email me at diet-trial@pivotalhealth.co.uk
by Fitness4London | on 11 July 2011
Interesting article Sophie, but I take issue with your statement:
"A common misconception is that a high salt intake leads to high blood pressure"
It's not a misconception, it's a rock solid medical fact! If you'd said "a common misconception is that even a moderate salt intake leads to high blood pressure" I would agree with you. But high salt intake most certainly leads to high blood pressure, and the amount of salt eaten by most Brits is one reason why Britain is one of the most unhealthy nations in the western world.
Most people consume more salt than is healthy for them, plain and simple.
And yes, sea salt does contain lots of good minerals, but you don't need to add salt to food to get it. Just eat plenty of fish!
by Fitness4London | on 11 July 2011
One more thing, Sophie, you say: "We need salt, you see. Six grams a day, according to the experts."
Wrong! I've never read an expert recommendation that we need 6g salt per day. The 6g figure is the upper limit, above which it's damaging to health.
It would be like saying "men need 21 units of alcohol a week", when in fact it's the upper safe limit, not a recommendation to consume that much!
by newrabbit | on 11 July 2011
Even if you cook all your own food, it's unlikely you bake all your own bread & don't add salt, or that you completely abstain from cheese, ham, baked goods, etc etc.
There is no need to make an effort to eat enough salt - you almost certainly do.
by finnol49 | on 11 July 2011
An excess of sodium chloride is what causes the problem with high salt consumption. Sea salt has the same minerals in the same proportions as human blood & is therefore healthier - too much pure sodium chloride can cause high blood pressure etc.. Another reason to cook all your own food (but add sea salt).
by davidinnotts | on 12 July 2011
Not quite, finnol49.
Sodium chloride (ordinary table/rock salt) is still by far the main constituent of sea salt. All of these salts, including the nitrites and nitrates in cured meats like bacon and ham, will give the same problems and for the same reason.
It's this: salts are used by our bodies to balance the fluid pressure between cells in our bodies and our blood. If the blood's too salty, it sucks out water from our cells and we can get seriously dehydrated. If the blood has too little salts, it's the other way around. In fact, though, we have amazingly good coping mechanisms, provided that we drink enough water to get those mechanisms working and provided that we don't have hypertension.
We DON'T need much salt in our diet, but yes, sea salt is marginally more useful. We DO crave salt, because a NO-salt diet is crippling, and we're programmed to look out for salt. We can have too much salt, even if there's no hypertension problem.
Just try (and I don't really recommend this) eating several tablespoonfuls a day even of sea salt - the full symptoms of hypertension will soon show up and make you very, very sick.
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