Why a low salt diet could actually be bad for you

Key points
- Traditional recommendations on salt intake are based on dietary guidelines from 1977
- The same guidelines told us that “eating fat makes you fat”, which has since been disproven
- Many high sodium foods are unhealthy because they are high carb, highly processed foods
- High carb and low potassium intake are major causes of high blood pressure
- Low salt intake can increase insulin resistance – your body needs sodium to store glucose
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Of course, this is not to say that our ancestors were necessarily healthier than us, and for the most part they had much lower life expectancy. The key point is that low salt intake has not always been seen as the norm. The one thing we do know for sure is that they didn’t have easy access to large amounts of highly processed food.
It may seem like there are a lot of examples of reducing salt having a good effect in certain populations. But think about it this way:
Good luck finding a study showing that sodium has ill effects on a group of people eating a whole foods, high potassium, low sugar, low refined carb diet.
A second way that potassium affects carbohydrate metabolism is by regulating insulin secretion. Low potassium intake can make the cells which secrete insulin less sensitive to glucose, which again means your blood sugar levels staying higher for longer.
Going by the above, it goes without saying that high carb with low salt and low potassium is even worse than just low salt or low potassium. High carb means high insulin secretion. Low salt means makes it harder for that insulin to do its job without enough sodium to help glucose into the cells. Low potassium makes it harder for the little sodium that’s available to help that glucose on its way, and harder for your body to secrete enough insulin.

In conclusion
- Focus on getting enough potassium, rather than eating less salt
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