Who restricts salt?

[cotswolds]

Anyone who restricts salt should see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJN8ljcUljw. DiNicolantonio is a respected cardiology researcher (and also a BMJ editor). He says the low salt (and fat) guidelines date from 1980 and are unsupported by evidence.

A low salt diet does reduce blood pressure... by 1 point... wow. There is no corresponding mortality reduction It increases heart rate by 5 bpm, which is more damaging than the tiny BP reduction. It puts the body into a stressfed sodium retention state.

Minimum mortality is at higher levels of salt. He recommends 1.3 to 2.7 tsp/day (more if you exercise). The video is a bit long, but there's loads of interesting stuff in there.

[simonineaston]

It's odd that a great many of the food shibboleths have tumbled into dust. Who sets them up? And why? Often the origin seems to be a newspaper headline, a poorly-researched article, begining with a decent, proper article in say the BMJ and then repeated, Chinese Whisper-like, in the dailys and Bingo!! before you know it, half the nation is busily counting the eggs they eat each week, cutting down on (vital) salt, giving the tastiest animal fats a proper swerve (where would any decent (western) restaurant be without butter??) and all for what? Nothing, that's what... Absolutely nothing.

[foxyrider]

Until i realised the cause, all the reduced salt, shying from salt actually caused me some issues, since then i've not shied from cooking and using salt on my food and the issues have been consigned to history.

I try to keep 'processed' sugar low, i'm not keen on too much fat, i don't eat a lot of red meat but nor do i eat huge piles of veg, its full fat milk in my hot drinks and the occasional drop of alcohol. I've never bought in to all these 'fads', next they'll tell us that Soylent Green is good for you!

[David2504]

What do you mean by restrict salt? I don’t add it to food or when cooking. However I do not deliberately chose low salt foods.

[saudidave]

I've not put salt on the food on my plate for the last 40 years or so. I was a single bloke living on my own at the time and I ran out of it and kept forgetting to buy it. Eventually I realised I wasn't missing it so I never bought it anymore. After I married there was salt on the table once more but being used to food without it by then I didn't add any to the food on my plate. I don't miss it nor have I noticed any issues related to its absence.

[Audax67]

Use of salt decreases water activity, which can lead to an effective increase in the concentration of flavors and improve the volatility of flavor components (Delahunty and Piggott, 1995; Hutton, 2002). Higher volatility of flavor components improves the aroma of food and contributes greatly to flavor.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50958/

[mattsccm]

Meh

[Slowtwitch]

Not me, though I am careful when eating processed food as its usually chock full of it

[Stradageek]

I'm one of those cyclists that sweat like the proverbial pig. After a 2-3hr ride my wife often comments that I add lashings of unnecessary salt on my food. I, however, suspect that it's simple replenishment.

Anyone else had this experience, or am I fooling myself?

[ANTONISH]

I was riding an audax a few years ago on a hot day and arrived at a cafe control.
A group of riders were already there and one was feeling a bit lightheaded.
As they got up to leave he collapsed. The others helped him to a seat outside.

I got a pint glass of water with a teaspoonful of salt and got him to sip it.
A little later he was feeling a lot better - he had been drinking a lot of water because of the heat and was probably low on sodium.

I usually have a packet of lightly salted crisps after an audax just to get some salt back in to the system.

[prestavalve]

Anyone else had this experience, or am I fooling myself?

I eat next to no processed food and commute 50km a day - I find that a pint of fizzy water, squirt of lime and half a teaspoon of salt is necessary every day.

[foxyrider]

I'm one of those cyclists that sweat like the proverbial pig. After a 2-3hr ride my wife often comments that I add lashings of unnecessary salt on my food. I, however, suspect that it's simple replenishment.

Anyone else had this experience, or am I fooling myself?

Its not so much that i sweat a lot but i have been known to return from a ride with a rime of salt encrusting me and my clothing.

The salt is only unnecesary if you haven't been sweating it out, if you have you need to correct your sodium levels, I will usually use a post ride tab in half a lire of water rather than heavily salting my food - particularly as i often don't eat for an hour or so after returning from a ride - i like to get unsweaty and replenish liquids before facing making a meal.

[Slowtwitch]

I've only had dehydration issues (and afterwards craved salt) on two occasions : one was 300km audax type event where the pace was fair to say 'brisk' and at my wedding, where I was nervous as hell

[ANTONISH]

It occurs to me that our circulatory system incorporates a number of check valves ( I don't know the correct nomenclature).
When we stand these close and prevent gravity dragging our blood towards our feet and preventing us fainting from low blood pressure in our brains.
As I understand this doesn't work well in elderly people with low sodium.

[Jdsk]

It occurs to me that our circulatory system incorporates a number of check valves ( I don't know the correct nomenclature).
When we stand these close and prevent gravity dragging our blood towards our feet and preventing us fainting from low blood pressure in our brains.
As I understand this doesn't work well in elderly people with low sodium.

The biggest change in older people is the regulation of plasma osmolality by the brain.

Jonathan

PS: There are valves in veins. Most people can demonstrate them in their arms with the help of a tourniquet.