Why we need salt to thrive

Without salt we struggle, and if levels of sodium get low enough we can actually die. We simply need salt (or sodium) in our food, it doesn't just make food taste better, it makes our bodies function better. But we have come to fear it, and many now add just a tiny sprinkle of table salt to food for fear that too much daily will harm them.

But is this true? Salt has always been a core part of our lives, until ultra-processed foods began to sprout up and suddenly table salt replaced real salt.

So why exactly do we need salt? What are the key differences between table and real salt, and why did it get demonised? Those are all questions we'll be covering in this article, so let's get started.

The demonisation of salt

Salt became demonised in the late 1960s and early 1970s, after research linked high-sodium diets to high blood pressure. But this is the same period that saturated fat also became demonised, with seed oils promoted in its place. Similarly to the causation-vs-correlation issue seen with saturated fat and cholesterol-rich diets, those who ate a terrible diet (and often had an unhealthy lifestyle to match) were also frequently eating a large amount of salt, saturated fat and cholesterol.

The cause of their poor health wasn't any one of these things, it was their overall lifestyle and other areas of diet, such as alcohol consumption. When these foods got grouped together as "bad for our health" simply because they showed up in unhealthy people's diets, that didn't mean they caused the bad health. There was more of a correlation between these foods and unhealthy diets, but correlation doesn't point to causation.

The problem is that these studies focused on table salt, which is vastly different from natural sea or rock salt, yet it led to a fear of all salt and, subsequently, its removal from diets.

It's clear to see why people thought all salt was bad, when the key difference between table and natural salt was never mentioned. But natural salt isn't harmful to us, it's actually something we desperately need more of in modern diets. Hydration and electrolytes are words that get kicked around all the time, but everyone forgets the humble sea or rock salt when trying to rehydrate. The fact is, we need this natural salt to feel our best.

Even the Romans knew this. The word "salary" comes from the Latin word for salt, they knew soldiers and men couldn't be strong without salt, so they paid them in salt for their work. Take away the salt and you take away the vitality.

Table salt vs real salt

Table salt doesn't exist in nature the way real salt does, instead it's an ultra-processed food. It's made by taking hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide and reacting them together, then adding anti-caking agents and fortification. You can see how this resembles other modern ultra-processed foods, such as seed oils, synthetic supplements and lab-grown "meats."

Real salt, whether sea or rock salt, is on the other hand naturally produced by nature, you could even head down to the sea and boil sea water until all you had left was salt. Natural salt is easily recognised by the body and can instantly help us rehydrate properly.

When we begin to add more natural salt back into our diet, and even our drinking water, we start to notice we feel more hydrated: less thirst comes over us, fewer headaches occur, we feel more energised and we feel stronger. This is nature's gift to us, and we shouldn't fear salt, just as we shouldn't fear saturated fat or cholesterol.

Too much or not enough?

The question of whether you can have too much salt always comes up, but my answer is that you'll usually taste if something is too salty, or naturally turn away from over salted foods or drinks.

Salt can actually help us survive longer if we're left with just water, it will help prolong our life, as it hydrates us, contrary to the popular belief that it dehydrates us. So adding salt to your daily drinking water is a practice I highly recommend, just a pinch per bottle or glass is all you need, especially if you use a reverse osmosis filter, which can strip sodium and chloride from the water. Adding salt to the water helps us stay properly hydrated without having to constantly turn to synthetic electrolyte powders.

Salting food is a great way to enhance your hydration, as well as making it taste incredible, salt to taste, not out of fear of having too much! The fear that salt, even natural salt, increases blood pressure is often blown out of proportion and ignores so much real-world data that many people have with salt.

High blood pressure is mainly caused by inflammation, as many conditions are. The lower our body's inflammation, the less strain we put on our heart, and no water retention will occur from adding more natural salt to your diet.

Hydrating the right way

We lose so much salt (sodium) when we sweat. Most of the population are dehydrated, and they don't need more water, they need more salt.

As mentioned above, people turn to electrolyte powders, over-engineering their hydration. Natural salt, such as sea and rock salt, is a huge part of eating your hydration and restoring the electrolyte balance that is so desperately missing in today's society.

Combining salt with foods such as fruit, raw milk, bone broth, fruit juices and fruity vegetables can massively turn around how we feel day to day. When you see how few electrolytes you're actually getting, it's not about jumping on the first electrolyte powder you see, it's about focusing on a more hydrating diet, and salt is a key part of that.

Always look to source high-quality sea or rock salt that's been tested for heavy metals. Sea salt is often easier to find lower in heavy metals, and can even be sourced locally if you live near the coast! As with all things nutrition, quality is key.

Not just hydration

Salt isn't just for hydration, the many benefits of salt are hard to ignore and really make you question why it got demonised. In addition to hydration, salt helps with nerve signalling and muscle contraction, and can even help maintain healthy blood pressure.

Salt is also essential for the adrenal system and supports the production of stomach acid, helping the body make hydrochloric acid, which is key for digesting food and absorbing nutrients.

The adrenal system, salt balance and lymphatic system are all strongly connected, so when we take in more real salt, we support the adrenal system, which is part of your hormone health and incredibly important for energy levels. People often struggle with their energy levels due to a lack of real hydration, this isn't solved by electrolyte powders, which barely cover salt amounts, but by adding more real salt to your diet and eating hydrating foods. This is how you reclaim your energy!

Summary

Whenever I talk about salt and adding it to my water, a lot of people instantly assume I have high blood pressure. But after eating a good dose of salt every day for years, my blood pressure sits at the perfect standard 120/80. And it's not just me, others on the Organised team, past clients, friends and family have all added more high-quality sea salt to their diet and reaped the rewards, without the supposed negative effects of salt.

The pattern repeats again and again, something cherished for thousands of years is suddenly deemed bad for us and in need of removal or replacement. There's no arguing that table salt is an ultra-processed food, but real salt is a superfood. Don't fear it, embrace it.