Is Salt Good or Bad?

It is difficult to determine from the medical literature whether salt is good for you or bad because it is conflicting. A recent study claimed that there are 2.3 million deaths from heart attacks, strokes, and other heart related illnesses worldwide caused by taking in too much salt.

On the flip side there are many articles showing that salt is good for us and that it has a minor effect on blood pressure and that heart attacks and strokes either are not affected by salt intake or that the risk is actually lower as shown by the Cochrane Collaboration study. Another study published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2006 reported over 14 years on 78 million people that the more salt taken in the diet, the lower the risk of heart attack deaths!

At the same time, none of these studies differentiates between table salt, which is 97% sodium chloride, and sea salt or Himalayan salt. There is a difference in these products. Himalayan salt has only 85% sodium chloride but the other 15% has 84 different minerals that could be important trace minerals for the human body.

Another article published in the American Journal of Hypertension in 2012 reported that there's little evidence that cutting back on salt decreases the risk for heart attack, stroke, or death in people with either normal or high blood pressure.

Now, keep in mind that we're all different and for some people salt in any form is dangerous. For example when we have edema caused by congestive heart failure or advanced liver or kidney disease, salt could be lethal.

Different people have different salt needs, so consult your physician before consuming high levels of salt!