What Happens When You Quit Salt?

Should you be on a low sodium diet? What actually happens to your body and brain when you reduce salt?

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Written by: Tharsan Kana and Mitchell Moffit
Edited by: Luka Šarlija
Drawings by: Max Simmons and Greg Brown

References/Further Reading:

[emilyjanet]

My mom ended up becoming hyponatremic because of a low sodium diet! Her roommate's dad died of cardiovascular disease while they were both in college. It spooked both of them so much that they immediately cut sodium from their diets as much as possible. The issue with this - they were young healthy women in their 20s, not an aging man in his 60s! So they both over corrected. Low sodium everything all the time, and they never ever added salt to the cooking. All through my childhood she had horrible headaches, lethargy, and when she went to the doctor about it he was just like ".... I can't believe I'm saying this, but dear God woman, eat a bag of chips every once in a while!"
(Gotta be the only time a doctor has ever recommended potato chips!)

[HFC]

Many products have way too much salt which gets you used to high salt so reducing to normal amount tastes under salted!

[Soooooooooooonicable]

Salt is one thing I really struggle with. I can turn away sugar and caffeine easily, but salty food has a real pull on me.

[nhogan]

Back when I was in basic training in the army, my drill sergeant used to always eat sunflower seeds. Never saw him without some in his mouth. He later explained that since we (including him, yes) did so much PT and consumed so much water, it was important to get a bit more sodium in his body so that his body retained water better and he wasn't pissing 17 times a day.

[mother_duckling]

I didn’t know the symptoms of not consuming enough salt was what I experienced two years ago, kinda of scary 😵‍💫

[BassimAhdabEng]

The video gets the limits for salt mixed up with the limits for sodium. 2300mg is the recommended sodium intake. That's not the same as salt. Salt is roughly 40% sodium by weight. So the recommended daily intake for salt is closer to 6g. Please fix the video as it's confusing if not harmful currently.

[teamceline]

I was in my 20s when I was diagnosed with hypertension. It made no sense at first since I was well within the recommended BMI range and had very low cholesterol.

Cutting down my salt intake to within the recommended range was near impossible without making everything I consumed from scratch, which was difficult as a full time teacher.

You can reach the recommended daily intake in the US with just one fast food meal, or just by getting a few basic premade foods like canned soup, ham, or cheese

[santiagoblandon]

The sodium intake if you check it by country doesn't correlate to hypertension rates. It's almost inversely correlated, with asian contries which have higher sodium intake also having the lowest hypertension rates. Take South Korea as an example. The body can get rid of excess salt very easily unless you have some sort of renal dysfunction, whereas lacking sodium, that is a problem.

[PhantomQueenOne]

My dad was put on a low sodium diet towards the end of his life, so I had to learn to cook to suit his medical needs. I seldom use salt to cook anymore myself. Now everything tastes very salty to me.

[BastionMarshall]

When I developed an autoimmune disorder, I had to start making all my food from scratch.
I love my spices so I never really bothered with salt.
When I started passing out, the doctor told me that he almost never sees it, but my salt was dangerously low!
Plus it turned out I have POTS, so salt is my friend...

[vasilymerzlyakov]

Hyponatremia. Hypo- meaning low, natr meaning pertaining to sodium, or more formally natrium as shown on the periodic table of elements, and -emia meaning presence in blood. Low sodium presence in blood. ☝🏻

[Santa-nyyp]

Your conclusions are fine but your initial premise is off. Salt is correlative for high blood pressure, heart disease, and hyper-tension, not causative. Many papers have shown this. Insulin resistance IS causative for these issues and also causes the body to retain to much salt. Salt is one of the 10 most regulated levels in the body and as long as your kidneys are fully functional you will never have an issue.

[noname]

Perfect timing, considering just 12hrs ago I was ready to eat plain table salt. Salt cravings after exercising a lot go wild

[brooklynnchick]

I just wanted to say how refreshing and relatable your videos are, thank you for sharing your talents.
I’m a science educator from the US who teaches things like lab safety and physiology; I recommend you to everyone! Students, adults, parents, elders, EVERYBODY! Thank you for making my world better and my students lives easier. We’re spreading the ASAPScience gospel 😍

[zingara]

There was a case of a kid who has a condition where his body will required lots of salt 🧂 to the point he actually died cause the doctors recommend to cut salt. The story behind that is fascinating it could be great if you guys explain the science behind it cause I’m curious

[Nylak-Otter]

I was already in the hospital for liver failure when they massively reduced the sodium in my diet to try to keep my body from over-absorbing water, since my kidneys were struggling, too.

I'm vegetarian and it was hospital fare, so I couldn't really notice the difference. The only food they gave me was fresh fruit, veggie subs, and oatmeal, and protein shakes, when they let me eat at all.

My blood pressure was already worryingly low (it always is), my heart is in great shape, and once they let me go home for awhile they let me go back to eating a moderate amount of salt so my muscle function could improve, and everything I loved before tasted NASTY. Everything tasted like I'd poured a dispenser of salt into a cup of Ramen. It lasted for months.

[jfncho]

Just started cutting as much salt out of my diet. Mid 40s and started experiencing tension headaches for the first time. Cutting down salt and caffeine has helped a lot.

[tryblight]

what a strangely timed video, ive been stress eating a lot recently and its mostly been salty snacks. the bloating symptom has been noticeable at points. ill take this as a sign to stop and cope with personal issues a different way 😅

[kokitsunetora]

Fun fact: I'm on a high salt diet (under doctor supervision) because of chronic low blood pressure and dehydration. I don't usually eat processed foods, so it can be hard to get enough salt

[Toonlord]

Almost makes me glad to have chronic low BP. With all the salt in food at the grocery store (especially more affordable items) I couldn't imagine trying to cut back on salt intake so much.