For millennia, salt was currency, medicine, and lifeline. Empires rose and fell over salt routes. Wars broke out for control of it and entire economies revolved around it. Salt didnโt just flavor history, it built it.
Fast forward to today, and doctors warn against it, wellness influencers pitch pink versions of it as miracle detox dust, and grocery aisles are stacked with jars shouting claims like
โcleanest,โ โpurest,โ or โfrom ancient oceans.โ
So is salt toxic, magical, or just massively misunderstood?
Letโs strip away the hype and put this mineral back into physiological focus.
The primary electrolytes that your body relies on are sodium, potassium, calcium, bicarbonate, magnesium, chloride, phosphorus(1). Each are critical for keeping your system firing on all cylinders, but sodium is the primary electrolyte that drives fluid balance, nerve signals, and muscle contractions, and without it, your body canโt perform, recover, or function at full strength, and the easiest place to get it is from salt.
Chemically, itโs sodium chloride, NaCl. Sounds clinical, but this combo is the electrolyte spark behind some of your bodyโs most crucial functions.ย
Sodium is the charge carrier that powers every nerve signal. Chloride supports digestion and pH balance. Together, they help maintain your hydration, nerve conduction, cellular stability, and more.
For the purpose of this article, salt and sodium will be used interchangeably and we will be talking about salt and it's effect in terms of its sodium content.
Salt is about 40% sodium by weight. Thatโs the part your body needs to survive. So as you can see, it isnโt 'just' a seasoning. Itโs a survival mechanism, and salt just happens to be the most efficient way to get it.
But hereโs where confusion sets in. โSodiumโ gets scapegoated in medical headlines. And because salt is the most visible source, it gets blamed by association. Meanwhile, the real sodium bombs are in processed snacks, fast food, frozen meals, but somehow they slip by with less scrutiny.
For the purpose of this article, salt and sodium will be used interchangeably and we will be talking about salt and its health effects in terms of sodium content.
Many people treat salt like a sprinkle-for-flavor condiment. In reality, itโs foundational, because sodium is a vital mineral for bodily functions, and salt acts as a carrier of sodium. Cut sodium in take too low and your body doesnโt just get sluggish and moody, it misfires.
Salt helps power the brainโs wiring: Your thoughts, reflexes, memory, everything your brain does depends on electrical signals. Sodium makes those signals possible. Itโs the spark in the system.ย When sodium runs low, neurons canโt communicate properly. You feel foggy, slow, and irritable. Athletes know this firsthand. Runners often hit a wall not from lack of water, but from sodium loss. Their brains canโt process what their bodies are trying to do.
Salt helps drive muscle contraction: No sodium, no muscle contraction. Not in your arms, not in your legs, not in your heart. Movement, strength, even your heartbeat depends on the sodium-potassium pump firing on cue. Low sodium can cause muscles to cramp. They twitch. They weaken. Thatโs not dehydration alone, it could be salt deficiency showing up as physical weakness.
Salt helps manage hydration: Sodium helps hold water inside your bloodstream and tissues, preventing it from pooling in the wrong places. When saltโs too low, your body gets desperate. It hoards water incorrectly. You feel puffy, sluggish, but paradoxically, youโre dehydrated at the cellular level.
Drinking too much water without salt can dilute sodium levels to dangerous lows, a condition called hyponatremia(2). Itโs rare, but it can be deadly. Marathoners, soldiers, even wellness devotees have collapsed from it.
Every lift you perform relies on an electrical signal that tells your muscle to fire. Sodium is one of the key electrolytes that makes that signal happen.
If you train hard, sweat a lot, and care about muscle and strength, understanding how low sodium is a performance killer is key. As mentioned earlier, sodium controls fluid balance, muscle contractions, nerve impulses, and more. Itโs what keeps your muscles hydrated, your pumps full, and your strength firing under pressure.
Hereโs what happens when sodium tanks:
If thatโs happening to you, donโt just look at your training split or macros. Look at your salt intake too.
The standard RDA of 2,300 mg, which was designed for inactive adults, not athletes slinging iron or running sprints in 90-degree heat.
Most athletes need more than the RDA, depending on:
If youโre training hard you probably need to be more intentional with your sodium intake than the average person who's sitting around, eating sodium-heavy processed junk all day.ย
PRO TIP: Add a pinch of salt to your water bottle. Itโs one of the simplest ways to increase sodium intake and it doesn't alter the flavor of the water too much. If you really want to power up add 5-10 grams of creatine to it too. It can help you feel stronger when the workout gets challenging. You can also useย HYPERADE. If you haven't tried it yet you're really missing out. It's formulated to help replenish electrolytes and re-hydrate the body before, during, and after exercise. It's made with less ingredients than your average sports drink and it tastes better too. You can learn more about it here.
Now let's talk about more effects salt has on the body.
Yes, sodium can raise blood pressure, but thatโs not the full picture. Some people are salt-sensitive, so their BP spikes with sodium intake, while others are salt-resistant. And a subset actually improves blood pressure with more salt, especially those on whole-food, low-carb, or athletic diets.
It's all relative to many factors an individual has going on in their lives(3). It's also why โeating super cleanโ can backfire in some cases. If youโre active and sweating a lot, but not putting it back in, sodium levels may get too low and potentially tank your blood pressure.
Salt is dose-dependent, which means you can get too much, or not enough. And both sides have consequences.
This is a common problem affecting millions of people. If your diet is full of fast food and processed snacks, your sodium intake is likely already high from the ingredients, not the salt shaker (although adding salt to your meals too could make it worse). Add sugar and fat to the mix, and youโve got a recipe for a metabolic mess.
Excess sodium can contribute to:
ย ย โข ย ย Higher blood pressure (in salt-sensitive folks)
ย ย โข ย ย Water retention and swelling
ย ย โข ย ย Kidney strain from trying to excrete the overload
ย ย โข ย ย Calcium loss via urine
But again, itโs context that matters. Salt with processed carbs and oils is bad news. Salt with clean, whole food, is often just right.
This is more common when people cut processed foods, drink lots of water, train hard, and sweat, and they lose salt fast. But they donโt replace it.
Symptoms of low sodium sneak in:
ย ย โข ย ย Brain fog and forgetfulness
ย ย โข ย ย Dizziness when standing up
ย ย โข ย ย Fatigue masked as burnout
ย ย โข ย ย Muscle cramps or weakness
ย ย โข ย ย Thirst that doesnโt go away
You cut carbs, drink a gallon of filtered water a day, hit the gym hard, and suddenly youโre lightheaded just getting out of bed. Thatโs not a fitness plateau. Thatโs a salt crash.
These aren't flukes, they're biological alarms, and theyโre especially common in:
ย ย โข ย ย Endurance athletes and heavy sweaters
ย ย โข ย ย Keto or low-carb dieters
ย ย โข ย ย Vegans and vegetarians
ย ย โข ย ย People with adrenal issues or low cortisol
ย ย โข ย ย Anyone overhydrating without salt
Salt obviously doesnโt sprout on trees. Itโs either evaporated from seawater, scraped from salt lakes, or mined from ancient underground deposits. Each type has its own history and mineral profile, but the core remains sodium chloride.
Sea Salt: Harvested from evaporated seawater, often carries trace minerals. Itโs flaky, sometimes briny, and prized for texture. But because it comes from open water, it may carry trace microplastics.
Rock Salt (like Himalayan Pink): Mined from ancient seabeds. The pink comes from iron oxide. Marketers love to mention โ84 minerals,โ but these trace elements exist in parts per million. Likely too small to impact health, especially since many arenโt bioavailable in salt form.
Lake Salt: Pulled from salt-rich lakes like Utahโs Great Salt Lake. Coarse, mineral-rich, and deeply flavorful. A middle ground between rock and sea salt.
Specialty Salts: These are the boutique salts. Smoked, volcanic, black, blue, or infused with minerals. Think of them like designer shoes. They are flashy, flavorful, maybe fun to show off, but theyโre still 97โ99% sodium chloride.
In terms of sodium delivery, no. Almost all culinary salts hit the same sodium level per gram.
What does vary:
Use what works for your taste and needs.
If you cook at home with whole foods, you likely need more salt, not less. Especially if youโre sweating, hydrating well, or eating low-carb.โจ Add finishing salts like flaky sea salt or pink salt for flavor and texture.
If you eat highly processed food or restaurant food often, youโre likely over-salted. This is why it's so important to know how to read ingredient labels.ย
If youโre pregnant or nursing, iodine is critical for fetal brain development. Use iodized salt unless seafood and dairy are staples. โจIodine is like a spark plug for your thyroid. Without it, your metabolic engine sputters. During pregnancy, that spark is what helps build a babyโs brain.
If youโre athletic and/or sweat a lot you burn sodium quickly, so it's a good idea to add it back proactively, especially before and after workouts, ideally with creatine.
If you just want better-tasting food, salt is your flavor dial. Layer it in while cooking to enhance flavors and finish with texture salts to give it the final touch.
Salt isnโt a toxin. Itโs not a miracle cure either. Itโs a vital nutrient thatโs been lost in translation. The real danger is misuse and misunderstanding. We need salt, just not in the amounts that many people currently get it. Donโt demonize it, just learn to use it well.
If you want to learn how much sodium athletes, bodybuilders, and more need daily, Dr. Paul Henning has a full breakdown here.
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References:
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541123/
(2) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9699060/
(3) https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/dietary-salt-and-blood-pressure-a-complex-connection
