Salt (Sodium)

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What salt is · essential, but over-eaten

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When you eat a lot of sodium, your body holds on to extra water to dilute it, so blood volume and the pressure on your vessel walls go up. Potassium sits on the other side of the scale and helps the kidneys clear the excess. The chapter on how sodium and potassium affect blood pressure walks through that chain.

Sodium itself is an essential electrolyte: water balance inside and outside cells, nerve signals, and muscle contraction all depend on it, and with no sodium at all you could not survive (mechanism in Potassium & Sodium). The problem is the amount. The body needs very little, and the average person worldwide eats about twice the recommended limit. Salt is not the enemy, but for most people, moderate means less than now.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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Salt (Sodium)

Read full story

Stop 1/5

What salt is · essential, but over-eaten

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

When you eat a lot of sodium, your body holds on to extra water to dilute it, so blood volume and the pressure on your vessel walls go up. Potassium sits on the other side of the scale and helps the kidneys clear the excess. The chapter on how sodium and potassium affect blood pressure walks through that chain.

Sodium itself is an essential electrolyte: water balance inside and outside cells, nerve signals, and muscle contraction all depend on it, and with no sodium at all you could not survive (mechanism in Potassium & Sodium). The problem is the amount. The body needs very little, and the average person worldwide eats about twice the recommended limit. Salt is not the enemy, but for most people, moderate means less than now.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.