Just saw a talk on BBC news claiming that too much salt is causing strokes. So what is the real story about salt intake?
Salt intake study
Shinita
#2
One thing is clear: too much of basically anything is bad but how much is too much? Itās individual and our woe may matter a lot.
Too much salt makes my life utterly miserable (but I immediately stop salting things then so itās temporalā¦ I doubt it would actually affect my health at that lowish level) so I stick to my ideal amount. Sodium is very much needed, usually more on keto, it seems, itās not true for me but true for many others. Your body should tell you how much you need.
I leave the proper, thorough answers to the more knowledgeable ones.
Eddie
(Ed)
#3
Thanks @Shinita
I use salt like there was no tomorrow! Iām not saying I eat spoonfuls of it but I do put generous amount on anything I consume. I hope someone will have a bit more specific answer on the amount required.
What kind of signs do you get to tell you that you are using too much salt?
PaulL
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?)
#4
Some people are vulnerable to a condition called āsalt-sensitive hypertension,ā which is a form of high blood pressure that can be exacerbated by too much salt. But a couple of studies came out a few years ago, both showing that we are all healthiest when our sodium intake is between 4 and 6 grams daily. This translates to 10-15 grams of table salt (sodium chloride).
The sweet spot seems to be the same for everyone, including those with high blood pressure. The risk curve for health problems rises quite steeply when salt intake declines below the sweet spot. For most people, the risk curve rises slowly as their salt intake exceeds the sweet spot, but for salt-sensitive hypertensives, the risk rises just as sharply above the sweet spot as it does below it.
For more information on this, go on YouTube and search for videos by Dr. Andrew Mente, one of the directors of the PURE study, which is one of the two that produced the data I just described. Dr. Mente gave several lectures about the PURE studyās salt findings to Low Carb Down Under events, and the videos are available on the LCDU channel.
If you like salt, use it. If it starts to taste bad, stop. Thatās a sign that you have enough salt at the moment and donāt need more. For me, if I donāt get enough salt, I experience constipation and migraine headaches; too much, and my bowel movements become messy.
MarkGossage
(bulkbiker)
#5
Hmm wonder what else is currently being jabbed into people that can lead to strokes, blood clots and heart inflammationā¦?
But letās blame salt ehā¦
Fangs
#6
@MarkGossage ---- Amen!
---------and @Eddie
I am a super salter. I eat alot of salt, not a normal personās salt by any means and I love itā¦I thrive on it truly. I stopped all the āclaimsā on salt, red meat, low fat info, ādietingā and more LOL I just donāt care one bit about any of it.
Humans must have sodium.
too much, too little, you can tell by how your body reacts on a basic level with your personal salt intake for most of usāwe go by taste and we love it then drop it more and we change on itā¦just do you on your salt and what works best.
I read up on amts āone should haveā as recommended and what a phsysical body truly requires to function etcā¦and all that jazzātil the day I realized screw thisā¦now this is me LOLā¦I said I am using my salt as I see fit, as I do well on and done deal and never looked back. Healthiest I ever been 
but there is alot of info on sodium amts on the internet if wanted to research further.
Eddie
(Ed)
#7
@Fangs
Agree with what you are saying! I never really got too much in amounts required per dayā¦ I want salt, I have. I donāt want it, I donāt. Mostly same with all the other food items, meat, dairy etc.
What made me question salt is that I have been on ketogenic diet for nearly two years and it was all singing and dancing for me, however lately I developed a very strange pain in my lower back and thought it is more like kidney but probably notā¦ Also I realised my short memory got very bad lately and Iām struggling to remember things like where did I put my pen or I just had something in my hand, where did it go!? Hence Iām questioning salt as I use it quite a bit lately. I need to look in other things too, meat, dairy and greens (not having much of greens)
Fangs
#8
oh yea but most times it could be age relatedā¦are ya older? or are you still younger where āif thingsā change more we feel something is off but pain is a big indicator for sure something is off.
memory can be alot of things, worst for me is when I get flooded with stuff āon meā and I can remember 50 items I need to handle but darn I walk in a room and canāt remember why now HAHA I am just shy of hitting 60 and I think I am SO OVER a cluttered life ya know where I need and desire more simple just for peace sake now 
lower back can be weirdoā¦could be a kidney or truly a ālower back issueā from spinal and even can come from a hip issue and more so that can be one of those āyou have to investigateā and see where you weed out and land on it. Alot of times our food might never be the real issue and it can land into that āreal physical bodyā issue we have to find out and handleā¦nothing worse than that āpain in that areaā that could be from??? I feel ya on that one!
For me it was I got into āreading it allā and at some point so overloaded on ādiet health stuffā I had to just dump it all and go by basic life physical needs and what suited me. Body needs only 115mg of sodium to function and survvie, NOW of course we eat and are active and sweat and stress and eat whatever and donāt drink enough and blah blah so of course more would be a tad better than ever going to that most bottom limit the physical body requires but heck I am a super salter, I know I am way over what the physical body needs but I function so well on it.
Fruno
(Utility Muffin Research Kitchen)
#9
Kidneys often have trouble regulating salt if insulin is high. Go low carb, lower insulin, and you can eat all the salt you want because your kidneys will recover, usually within a week.
Fangs
#10
hey I like this LOL in that being carnivore I truly know I can salt up and be cool on itā¦rock on!
you got some backup for me to read? just wondering
Shinita
#11
A burning feeling and salt aversion. I get it below the keto recommended amount. I am very fine with 4-5g salt a day (itās my natural intake anyway), 10g (when I ate too much processed meat out of necessity) was way too much but maybe it wasnāt the amount but the density? (Too much salt for the volume of my food or something.) But many people prefers less and even more way, way moreā¦
Other people have other symptoms and many says they never noticed any problem from much sodium. But I have a lowish need, apparently. Itās very convenient, I never supplement sodium. But I would if I felt a dizzy feeling while itās imaginable I had too little (as I had 2 times in my life when I suspect I needed sodium and I was a bit dizzy). Like longer fasts I donāt even do but who knows what the future brings?
PaulL
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?)
#12
The studies I read said that people were healthiest in the range of 10-15 grams/day, but that includes all sources of salt. If you are eating salty food, you certainly donāt need to add more.
Also, people eating carnivore find that at some point they no longer want to add salt to their food. Evidently they are getting enough in their meat and donāt need extra.
Fangs
#13
hey @Eddie this is my first meat meal of the day and yes this is me full blown on my salt intake on this mealā¦bet you aināt this heavy LOL believe me I an thriving and doing so darn goodā¦no salt āstudy or infoā posted out there wonāt ever make me be me when I feel so āgoodā being just me and what I need in life!!
Eddie
(Ed)
#14
@Fangs This looks like a lot. I am not using as much. Perhaps I need to look elsewhere for cause of my pain
Iām only 35 and all changed just recently so it is a bit worrying as my job is very āmemory demandingā. I could probably cheat and write more things downā¦.
@PaulL [quote=āFruno, post:9, topic:110147ā]
Go low carb, lower insulin
[/quote]
Iām very low carb, almost carnivore, sometimes even worries Iām not getting enough nutrients
Thanks for your replies
SomeGuy
(Joey)
#15
If interested in the reliable science currently available on this topic, then Dr James DiNicolantonioās āThe Salt Fixā is the first place to go. Changed my whole perspective on salt and Iāve been heavily salting everything (including my drinking water) ever sinceā¦
SomeGuy
(Joey)
#17
Nice to patronize authors directly, but available on amazon too. Heavily footnoted in case youāre interested in checking the authorās math.
Fruno
(Utility Muffin Research Kitchen)
#18
Plenty of talks on youtube. Like @PaulIL said, Andrew Mente: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWzaT5wJ20M is a good start.
Itās pretty much common knowledge among all keto doctors that patients can lose a lot of water when going keto, and that this is because of improved kidney performance. Not sure if there is a talk specific to kidneys, salt and keto ā Virta writes about it (https://www.virtahealth.com/blog/potassium-sodium-ketogenic-diet) and the importance of getting enough salt and potassium (https://www.virtahealth.com/blog/sodium-nutritional-ketosis-keto-flu-adrenal-function).
I read once that our ancestors ate much more salt than we do because they used loads of salt to preserve meat and fish for the winter, and they didnāt have heart disease or hypertension either. Donāt remember the source though.
marklifestyle
(Mark Rhodes)
#19
I find this kind of response to be of the nature of opposite of what the forums are intended for. In particular this post is about salt and you just felt the need to inject your diatribe into a rather good conversation.
I AM THE PERSON who suffered a pulmonary embolism after my second Moderna shot because I have Factor V and Factor VIII. That all three vaccines in the USA can have thrombosis issues was not widely known when I took the second shot. I spent three days in the ICU. AND I WOULD TAKE IT A THIRD TIME, should it be required. The obvious benefits and markedly decrease of serious complications in states with high vaccine rates is obvious even to deniers like Noakes who Tweeted such on Monday. He is backpedaling. This is including transmission even of the Delta variant and is worth the heightened risk a person such as myself has to endure.
I thought I was rather immune to the effects with my high Vit D and lessening commodities. HOLY ā ā ā ā was I wrong!! I would likely be dead, my wife a widow had I been hit with an unregulated dose of the real thing. Furthermore there is so much unregulated stuff people cram into their bodies and call it food or body art or performance enhancers or gas station pecker pills.
As to salt, yum. Hereās a good one https://www.carnivorecast.com/podcast/darryl Daryl is the grandson of Real Salt founder.
Shinita
#20
My 4-5g is my total, I always count everything if I count something. But now that I eat only eggs and meat, it surely will go lower, we will see what happens. 1g salt per pound of meat is ideal for my roasts, a bit more for other meats, eggs barely need anyā¦ And my processed stuff is tiny. And itās not the smoked pork with its maybe 7% (I think that is the legal maximumā¦? 10% happens though) salt content from the pastā¦ That was brutal, even with eggs. Obviously. Itās insanely high! But itās probably needed to preserve that type of meat.