You reach for it, yet retract your hand. It’s too little, too late. You want it, but you tell yourself you shouldn’t. You’ve had enough. It’s calling to you. Your taste buds flair. Your mouth waters just by looking at the little holes atop the shaker. The craving is overbearing. You cave and reach for the container. It sprinkles out, a little at first, and then more and more as it bursts out with gusto, flying everywhere, covering every morsel of food and every crevice of your plate. With little else to do, you take a bite and bask in its saltiness. You’ll do better tomorrow. You’ll omit it entirely the next day you promise yourself, but for now, the salt is yours.
If this internal dialogue doesn’t sound familiar, maybe you’re doing something right. Perhaps you’re eating enough salt. Most of us are on the other end of the spectrum. We’re not only eating too little salt, but are deficient in it. An essential mineral, we literally will die without it, so why are we discouraged from eating it?
It’s as though salt has found itself at the center of a dubious witch hunt. America is on fire with obesity, type-2 diabetes, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure and we need someone to blame. Enter salt.
Everywhere we turn, there are reduced salt, low sodium, no-salt-added products. Like sugar, there are many substitutes on the market attempting to trick our taste buds into thinking it’s the real thing. It goes deeper than our taste buds, however. Salt is an important player in a multitude of functions within our body. Every single cell and neurotransmitter in our body depends on it.
Salty Setbacks
Today, before dietary guidelines are handed to the public, they must be supported by trials and evidence in several proven clinical studies. Before this was the case however, salt lent itself as a scape goat in the 1950s when Lewis Dahl bred genetically salt sensitive lab rats and then fed them salt. Not surprisingly, the salt sensitive rats experienced high blood pressure as a result of their salty diet and inability to process it. In 1977 the government issued a blanket recommendation for salt intake, limiting it to three grams and immediately augmenting it to five. Though it’s been slightly altered over time, the suggestion for a maximum intake of salt has stood for many years. Oddly, there has never been a minimum salt intake guideline issued, a first for an essential mineral. If our sodium levels dip too low, it could be fatal. Why, then, has salt been depicted as evil for decades and villainized for crimes it may never even have committed?
Enter Dr. James.
Dr. James DiNicolantonio may have the answers. A doctor of pharmacy by training, he quickly recognized there was more to healing than medications alone. In his book, “The Salt Fix,” he not only unveils the importance of salt in our lives, but identifies the deeper consequences of low sodium diets.
If you think you’re salty enough, think again. We are one of the richest nations in the world, yet we have one of the highest rates of obesity on the planet. We consume one of the lowest amounts of salt and are one of the sickest populations on Earth. Cultures that ingest much more salt than we do as a nation, such as Japan, are some of the heart healthiest people there are. Is this merely a coincidence?
Dr. James doesn’t think so. As a scientist, he speaks only of evidence-supported findings and minces no words when it comes to conjecture. He equates our hunger for salt to our thirst for water and his answers are backed by studies. Salt isn’t the villain it’s accused of being. In fact, it’s a case of mistaken identity. Who’s to blame? Salt’s doppelganger, sugar.
At the same time that salt was vilified, studies emerged pinning sugar, not salt, as the source of elevated blood pressure. In addition to the salt sensitive rat study, there were a couple more studies pointing a finger at salt, which were sponsored by the sugar industry. Is this a conspiracy theory? Salt isn’t the problem. For many of us, it’s the answer.
Without enough salt, we gain weight, particularly around the middle. We are low energy, and can experience dizziness. Our cholesterol increases, as can our blood pressure. We crave sugar and refined carbs and have increased levels of stress hormones. We get indigestion and acid reflux. Lower rates of fertility have been associated with a lack of salt, as have those little blue pills.
When we don’t have enough salt, our body will pull it out of our bones, increasing our risk for osteoporosis. Too little salt? We produce more insulin to protect our salt stores, leading to a higher incidence of insulin resistance, meaning we need to secrete more insulin to regulate our blood sugar. When that happens too often, we’re in trouble, as it’s a predeterminant of type 2 diabetes.
Salty Solutions.
We’ve established that a lack of salt spells trouble, but it can aid us in many ways, not the least of which is to stave off sweet cravings. A sprinkle can help dress up healthier foods to make them more palatable, even desirable. It helps our immunity, gut health and is even said to aid in preventing the development of addictions to other substances.
According to Dr. James, when mammals are deficient in a substance they need, their reward center in the brain is activated to get them to seek it out in nature. They want it more. Let’s say we need salt. We crave it. When we find it, our brain releases dopamine when we ingest it and we literally get high. And there’s the reward.
“Salt is the only mineral that actually has a taste receptor. If you get too much, things will become too salty. That doesn’t happen with sugar. With sugar, the more you take in, the more you want. To tell people to restrict their salt intake is dangerous,” DiNicolantonio says.
Listen to your body. You’re the best meter you can use about how much salt you should be consuming every day. If your body’s telling you that you need more salt, you should listen to it. “Your body is smarter than any dietary guideline,” he says.
All salt may not be considered equal, but Dr. James maintains that some of any salt is better than no salt at all. Our body will attempt to return us to a perfect balance with our salt levels again and again. We just have to listen.
Salt-Baked Whole Branzino
1 whole Branzino or other whole fish
Extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds Kosher salt
¾ cup water
White pepper
1 lemon – sliced
Tarragon or fresh herbs of choice
1 small shallot – sliced
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Rub fish inside and out with olive oil. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix salt and water together until wet, but not saturated.
Portion half the salt mixture onto the baking sheet, flattening out into a shape a little longer than the fish.
Lay fish on salt bed.
Dust cavity with white pepper.
Stuff with lemon slices, herbs and shallot.
Cover with remaining salt until fully sealed.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a leave-in thermometer reads 135°F.
Remove from oven and crack salt crust as a party trick before fileting.
*No material in this article is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen.
Katharine Jameson is a Certified Health Counselor and graduate of Syracuse University. Her growing interest and research in nutrition stems from her time spent being taunted on the playground for being rotund as a kid and her weight struggles as a NYC actress in her 20s. A mother of two, she is based in Brentwood and writes a weekly column where she discusses pivotal topics and interviews cutting edge authors about all things health. www.foodforthoughtwithkat.com @foodforthoughtwithkat