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Hold on a second, the linked research is about sugar. I've seen a lot of similar studies suggesting sugar consumption is a problem. Is salt consumption also unh

Hold on a second, the linked research is about sugar. I've seen a lot of similar studies suggesting sugar consumption is a problem. Is salt consumption also unhealthy? I was under the impression that it's not.

betwixthewires 5y ago
From what I understand excess consumption causes increase in blood pressure and subsequent cardiovascular problems. Definitely nowhere near as dangerous as sugar, and you die without salt, not so with sugar, but Americans do consume too much of it.
- andrewl 5y ago
  Very much so. I just saw this article the other day: Super Simple: Drinking Enough Water Could Prevent Heart Failure https://scitechdaily.com/super-simple-drinking-enough-water-could-prevent-heart-failure/ https://scitechdaily.com/super-simple-drinking-enough-water-...
- fredros 5y ago
  It has this effect only on roughly a quarter of the population though.
  - desmosxxx 5y ago
    i used to use this as en excuse to not worry about it. turns out I'm in that 1/4th haha
TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
Salt leads to high blood pressure: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/sodium-and-salt https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s... When there’s extra sodium in your bloodstream, it pulls water into your blood vessels, increasing the total amount (volume) of blood inside them. With more blood flowing through your blood vessels, blood pressure increases. It’s like turning up the water supply to a garden hose — the pressure in the hose increases as more water is blasted through it. Over time, high blood pressure may overstretch or injure the blood vessel walls and speed the build-up of gunky plaque that can block blood flow. The added pressure tires out the heart by forcing it to work harder to pump blood through the body. And the extra water in your body can lead to bloating and weight gain. High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” because its symptoms are not always obvious. It’s one of the major risk factors for heart disease, the No. 1 killer worldwide. Almost no one gets a free pass. Ninety percent of American adults are expected to develop high blood pressure over their lifetimes. Did you know that sodium can affect your blood pressure even more dramatically if you’re sensitive to salt? Recent science explains that certain factors may influence how your blood pressure changes when you eat salt, such as: Age Weight Race/ethnicity Gender Some medical conditions (like diabetes or chronic kidney disease) Even if you don’t already have high blood pressure, eating less sodium can help blunt the rise in blood pressure that occurs with age. It can also reduce your risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and even headaches. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/sodium-and-salt https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s...
zamfi 5y ago
For most healthy people, salt is not problematic, your kidneys do a great job of maintaining your blood salinity. However, if you have kidney disease, or if you have genetic mutations that cause you to retain salt (as is, apparently, common in certain subpopulations), then too much salt really messes you up. In population studies, this averages out to "excess salt is moderately bad for you", but the distribution of "how bad" is really shockingly bimodal.
- labawi 5y ago
  Unlike sugar¹, salt is also necessary in small quantities. It is also quite useful/needed even in moderate quantities (say 1/10 - 1/2 teaspoon) in cases where it got flushed out. For example, you eat too much sugar/saccharides/food for body to process, blood sugar rises and salt is flushed to keep osmotic pressure. After a couple of hours, sugar is spent, you get cravings from falling (normalizing) blood sugar, but you're also hypotonic so you get headaches as your brain is swelling against your skull. Eating/drinking some salt (say 1g), some time after eating, when sugar levels fall (~1-3h) can do wonders. Eating more sugar also relieves the pain, but only by delaying the issue. Of course, not overeating sugar in the first place is even better. ¹ sugar in the sense of mono and disaccharides. Not sure if any saccharides are required in diet.

betwixthewires 5y ago

From what I understand excess consumption causes increase in blood pressure and subsequent cardiovascular problems. Definitely nowhere near as dangerous as sugar, and you die without salt, not so with sugar, but Americans do consume too much of it.

andrewl 5y ago
Very much so. I just saw this article the other day: Super Simple: Drinking Enough Water Could Prevent Heart Failure https://scitechdaily.com/super-simple-drinking-enough-water-could-prevent-heart-failure/ https://scitechdaily.com/super-simple-drinking-enough-water-...
fredros 5y ago
It has this effect only on roughly a quarter of the population though.
- desmosxxx 5y ago
  i used to use this as en excuse to not worry about it. turns out I'm in that 1/4th haha

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

Salt leads to high blood pressure: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/sodium-and-salt https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s... When there’s extra sodium in your bloodstream, it pulls water into your blood vessels, increasing the total amount (volume) of blood inside them. With more blood flowing through your blood vessels, blood pressure increases. It’s like turning up the water supply to a garden hose — the pressure in the hose increases as more water is blasted through it. Over time, high blood pressure may overstretch or injure the blood vessel walls and speed the build-up of gunky plaque that can block blood flow. The added pressure tires out the heart by forcing it to work harder to pump blood through the body. And the extra water in your body can lead to bloating and weight gain. High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” because its symptoms are not always obvious. It’s one of the major risk factors for heart disease, the No. 1 killer worldwide. Almost no one gets a free pass. Ninety percent of American adults are expected to develop high blood pressure over their lifetimes. Did you know that sodium can affect your blood pressure even more dramatically if you’re sensitive to salt? Recent science explains that certain factors may influence how your blood pressure changes when you eat salt, such as: Age Weight Race/ethnicity Gender Some medical conditions (like diabetes or chronic kidney disease) Even if you don’t already have high blood pressure, eating less sodium can help blunt the rise in blood pressure that occurs with age. It can also reduce your risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and even headaches. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/sodium-and-salt https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s...

zamfi 5y ago

For most healthy people, salt is not problematic, your kidneys do a great job of maintaining your blood salinity. However, if you have kidney disease, or if you have genetic mutations that cause you to retain salt (as is, apparently, common in certain subpopulations), then too much salt really messes you up. In population studies, this averages out to "excess salt is moderately bad for you", but the distribution of "how bad" is really shockingly bimodal.

labawi 5y ago
Unlike sugar¹, salt is also necessary in small quantities. It is also quite useful/needed even in moderate quantities (say 1/10 - 1/2 teaspoon) in cases where it got flushed out. For example, you eat too much sugar/saccharides/food for body to process, blood sugar rises and salt is flushed to keep osmotic pressure. After a couple of hours, sugar is spent, you get cravings from falling (normalizing) blood sugar, but you're also hypotonic so you get headaches as your brain is swelling against your skull. Eating/drinking some salt (say 1g), some time after eating, when sugar levels fall (~1-3h) can do wonders. Eating more sugar also relieves the pain, but only by delaying the issue. Of course, not overeating sugar in the first place is even better. ¹ sugar in the sense of mono and disaccharides. Not sure if any saccharides are required in diet.