Originally published October 5 2013
Low salt diets don't work and hurt your body
by Nate Curtis
(NaturalNews) For at least two decades, low salt or no salt diets have been touted as one way to ultimate health, or at least the best way to avoid hypertension and heart disease. Could it have been you were misled? Does anyone else remember when eggs were bad for you too? The truth is you could be facing more serious health risks with a lower salt diet.
With all the dire warnings about salt in your diet, you would assume there had been exhaustive studies supporting this position. In fact, there was merely one! In 1997, the DASH-sodium study set out to discover whether a low sodium diet could help control hypertension. Participants ate a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy and lean proteins, and the results did indicate reduced hypertension, but was salt the key missing ingredient or was it something else?
There was also a marked reduction of fructose! In a rush to prove a point researchers completely overlooked the obvious. Subsequent research and medical facts have gone a long way toward proving that a diet high in sugar is much more likely to result in hypertension and heart disease than salt.
Some might say it would be better to be safe than sorry and continue to eliminate sodium or salt from their diet. The only problem with this mentality is the fact that low sodium can be just as harmful to your health.
Over the years experts and researchers have continually examined the salt/health relationship and what they have found in study after study may surprise you. Low salt or no salt in your diet can lead to higher mortality rates among those with cardiovascular disease. From 1988 to the present these studies have all come to the same conclusion, there is no correlation between low salt and reduced hypertension.
Salt types
What type of salt you are using is a bigger concern than how much. If you want to work on a healthier diet, changing the type of salt you consume could have a bigger impact than the levels you consume. Table salt, which is what you normally find in your homes and restaurants and in processed foods, has no nutritional value. It lacks the essential nutrients and minerals that make salt good for you. It goes through many processes before it ends up on the dinner table. Among these processes is extreme heat for drying and the addition of anti-clumping and moisture inhibiting chemicals. Using wholesome salt, such as Himalayan Crystal, which undergoes minimal processing and has been developed far from industrial contaminants, is a better solution than no salt or low salt diets.
Though low sodium or no sodium diets have been promoted ad nauseam, science can find no clear-cut proof that this type of diet is beneficial. Surprisingly many studies actually show the opposite! Salt has many health benefits including; controlling water levels, aiding in heart health, promoting healthy blood sugar, muscle cramp reduction, improved libido, reduced aging and so much more.
Sources for this article include:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4996363&page=1
http://www.scientificamerican.com
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com
About the author:
Nate Curtis has written dozens of health articles and is the author of the Amazingly Informative and Extremely Entertaining Free Special Health Report "It's Your Body, You Can Die If You Want To!" Check it out now at http://www.youcandieifyouwantto.com
Nate Curtis has written dozens of health articles and is the author of the Amazingly Informative and Extremely Entertaining Free Special Health Report "It's Your Body, You Can Die If You Want To!" Check it out now at http://www.youcandieifyouwantto.com
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