Breaking Down the Salt Debate: Who Should Go Low and Who Shouldn’t

More and more people are practicing low-sodium diets to escape excessive sodium intake. This involves not seasoning food or completely avoiding foods high in sodium. While it’s true that reducing sodium intake can be beneficial for those accustomed to salty foods, an extremely low-sodium diet can lead to health problems. So, what is the appropriate amount of sodium one should consume?

The Role of Sodium in the Body

Sodium helps to expel waste from our bodies and regulate body fluid levels (blood, lymph, etc.). The usual sodium content for people weighing around 130 pounds is 2.5 to 2.8 ounces. If the body’s sodium concentration is lower than this, it can lead to fatigue or even exhaustion, so avoiding an extreme low-sodium diet for health is important.

Who Should Follow a Low-Sodium Diet?

People with high blood pressure or obesity should limit their salt intake. Sodium in salt increases the liquid concentration in the body, increasing body fluid and raising blood pressure, which can exacerbate symptoms of hypertension. High blood pressure can also damage the walls of blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Obesity, too, is a major cause of various diseases and is detrimental to health. Salty tastes can lead to overeating and thus more calorie intake. Therefore, if you are overweight, a low-sodium diet is essential.

Who Should Avoid a Low-Sodium Diet?

Some people need to avoid a low-sodium diet due to chronic diseases. Patients with heart diseases are a prime example. If you have heart disease, a decreased sodium intake can make it impossible to regulate body fluid levels, reducing blood volume and potentially affecting the heart’s function. If the blood volume decreases when the heart’s ability to contract is weak, the heart may not be able to pump blood throughout the body, leading to various diseases.

Decreased Water Absorption

If you don’t consume enough salt, water may not be adequately absorbed into the body. If water is not absorbed into the body and only discharged, this can cause problems with blood circulation, and waste may not be efficiently expelled, leading to the formation of stones in the body.

Increase in Visceral Fat

An extremely low-sodium diet can ironically lead to an increase in body fat. Many people believe that consuming a lot of sodium, such as salt, can lead to weight gain and swelling, but ironically, not eating enough salt can prevent water absorption, increasing the rate of visceral fat and changing the body’s constitution to swell easily, hindering weight loss.

Inducing Digestive Disorders

Did you know that an appropriate amount of salt helps stimulate digestion? This is because the enzymes in salt aid in the digestion of food and increase intestinal movement. Therefore, if you excessively restrict this, it can slow down intestinal activity and induce digestive disorders. Remember, other problems, such as constipation or cramps, can follow if the intestines are inactive.

Decline in Kidney Function

If there is a lack of salt, kidney function naturally declines. When accustomed to a low-sodium diet, the kidneys work excessively to reabsorb minerals not in the body, which can lead to problems. If you have weak kidneys, you should not follow a low-sodium diet, and since consuming too much salt can strain the kidneys as well, you should always adjust to consume an appropriate amount.

Inducing Cold Sensation

Salt functions to warm the body. Therefore, an excessive low-sodium diet can induce cold sensations in the body. When the body is too cold, it is good to frequently drink warm water with unsalted sea salt or bamboo salt to relieve the coldness of the body.

Skin and Eye Dryness

As mentioned earlier, if there are problems with digestion and absorption due to a low-sodium diet, the production of body fluids becomes poor, and, according to the principle of homeostasis, water is discharged to adjust to the salt concentration. When dehydration occurs like this, dryness occurs in all parts of the body, accompanied by skin dryness, eye dryness, and mouth dryness. Artificial tears or moisturizers alone cannot solve the symptoms, so avoiding an extreme low-sodium diet is better.

Need for Appropriate Salt Intake

Our bodies always maintain a 0.9% salt concentration in body fluids. About 0.05 ounces of salt is sufficient for the body to function, but the World Health Organization has set 0.18 ounces as the recommended daily salt intake. It is said that it is okay to consume a little more if you are exercising. Hence, it is crucial to avoid an extremely low-sodium diet and remember that an appropriate amount of salt intake is necessary. Experts recommend moderate salt intake rather than an extreme low-sodium diet, as it helps reduce weight and body fat, prevents fat from sticking to blood vessels, and promotes blood circulation.

By. Shin Young Jeon