Salt Is Not the Enemy. Guess What Actually Ruins Your Health Instead?

[Ratty]

98. Salt cannot be linked to mortality

I read a fascinating article a few months ago. It's well-known salt intake is related to high blood pressure but when researchers carried their research much further they could find no link between salt and actual mortality. In other words people with larger sodium intakes had higher blood pressure but didn't seem to be dying an sooner than everyone else.

I have blood pressure problems and am careful to control my salt intake. It's mostly pretty easy for me because I have never been one to crave the so-called "salty food" like pretzels, chips, etc. And I simply don't like the taste of a lot of salt in foods. Haven't bought a can of soup in years - it's uneatable to me. And when I have a lot of salt I feel all "blood-pressury" as I put it. My skin is red and I feel a sensation of pressure in my head and face. Plus I have a thirst which I can't satisfy. I can drink half a gallon of water until my stomach is tight and I hear the water sloshing around in their when I move and I'm STILL thirsty.

It's a few insidious packaged foods I have to watch out for - the ones that don't even taste particularly salty. Safeway makes a potato salad I like a lot and I don't even notice it as being particularly salty - but read the label and it's a full day's sodium allotment and I have that unquenchable thirst for hours afterward.

BTW, I lost a great deal of weight when I cut down on salt and did nothing else. I didn't crave sodas anymore or sugary fruit juices. No hardships or learning to say no or anything like that. I just wasn't thirsty for them anymore.