Eat Just a Grain of Salt
Is salt bad for you?
It was for Judas Iscariot. If you look closely at Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting, “The Last Supper,” Judas has knocked over a container of salt with his arm. The painting depicts the moment when Jesus says that one of his disciples would betray him.
In DaVinci’s time, spilling salt was considered an omen of bad things to come. Some even felt that if salt was spilt, one had to throw salt over the left shoulder with the right hand to reverse the offense.
Okay so spilling salt is bad, but how about eating it?
We need salt because it contains sodium. You have about a 1/2 pound of sodium in your body right now. Sodium helps our bodies do important things like staying alive.
So if we need sodium, how much should we eat?
Five thousand years ago the average daily diet contained about a 1/4 TEASPOON (500 milligrams) of sodium — that’s about the amount of salt in 2 slices of white bread. When our ancestors stopped chasing their food and began growing it, some guy became the bacon lover’s hero when he figured out that salt could preserve meat. Because of salt preservation it was estimated that some Swedes in the 16th century may have eaten up to 100,000 milligrams of salt per day.
So how many milligrams of sodium is considered healthy?
The American Heart Association recommends eating 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day (about 40 times less than a 16th century Swede!). Most of us eat about 4,000mg a day. Some of us go to Buffalo Wild Wings and eat 11,000mg in one sitting!
You’re kidding about Wild Wings right?
Here’s a handy little chart that tells you about some restaurants and the amount of sodium in a meal:
Woah! That’s kind of eye opening.
Right, but restaurants aren’t even the number one source of sodium for us. It’s what we buy at the grocery store. 
Dang, pizza and luncheon meat have massive amounts of sodium! Apparently it’s easy to eat salt.
Salt is addicting. In a Texas zoo chimpanzees used to eating a low- sodium diet in the wild were given salty biscuits to eat. After several years, the zoo keeper decided to give them no-salt biscuits. The chimpanzees were so ticked off that they chose to starve rather than eat the no-salt biscuits.
Does eating lots of salt hurt our bodies? I mean, I do love me some Blazing Hot Wings.
High salt diets give us high blood pressure which in turn causes heart attacks. The good news is that reducing salt reduces our blood pressure.
Another study took 20 people and had them eat 12,000mg of sodium for 1 month, then 6,000mg of sodium for the next, and then 3,000mg of sodium for the third month. The difference in blood pressure between the 12,000mg diet and the 3,000mg diet was 16 points (Blood pressure was reduced by 16/9mmHg). Impressive right?
But does eating less salt prevent heart attacks?
Does eating lots of salt cause other bad stuff?
Yes, kidney disease, kidney stones, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, obesity and possibly dementia.
Okay, maybe I’ll just buy Himalayan Salt. That’s healthier than table salt right?
Nope. Himalayan salt still has lots of sodium and is way expensive.
Okay, fine! How do I eat less salt?
1). Read food labels and buy food with <140mg sodium per serving
2). Avoid processed meats (processed, smoked, cured) and look out for meat injected with high-sodium liquids.
3). Avoid processed foods
4). Don’t salt your foods
5). Eat out less at restaurants
6). Switch to whole food snacks like fruits, vegetables, unsalted nuts, and air-popped popcorn
7). Cut back on sauces such as salad dressings, ketchup, and soy sauce
8). Use herbs, spices, garlic and onions to flavor foods (Coriander, black pepper, nutmeg, parsley, cumin, cilantro, ginger, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, garlic or onion powder, bay leaf, oregano, dry mustard, lemon juice, or dill)
9). Rinse canned foods
10). Try these salt substitutes: Mrs. Dash, Spike Salt Free, No Salt, Nu-Salt
Summarize it for me doc!
Reduce the amount of sodium you eat by eating lower sodium food choices. Shoot for about 1,500mg of sodium a day. And if you do spill salt, make sure to throw it over your left shoulder.
Thank you for another informative article, Doctor. Your articles make good points and are easy to understand. It’s so important for people to know that so many foods contain way too much sodium, which isn’t good for us. It really makes a difference cutting back on the salt! I’m wondering if caffeine would also fall into the category of cutting back on consumption since it raises blood pressure/pulse and high amounts should be avoided? Thanks again!