My wife is Korean, and I ate Korean food for 42 yrs.. I quit Korean food exactly on yr. ago, July 2017 after doing months of research. I went on the anti salt, oil, and sugar diet, in ten wks. I quit five meds., lost 17 pounds, and my Arthritis is gone. I'm whole food plant based for life. Sadly my doctor just doesn't understand how I did this, seems he don't know a damn thing about nutrition, and he's 71 yrs. old. He told me I should eat meat, and drink milk, OMG will the medical field ever learn anything.
Art Johnson only 1/4 of medical schools require doctors to take even a SINGLE nutrition course. Doctors are highly uneducated in nutrition and their nutrition advice shouldn’t really be trusted
I used to eat absolutely 0 added salt (and I eat whole foods vegan, cook everything at home, so I made sure it was 0) because of videos by Dr. Greger saying we don't need any beyond what's naturally found in food. I started feeling dizzy and nauseous all the time, and monthsss later saw a video by Bonnie Rebecca about why she started eating salt again, because lack of salt made her blood pressure too low causing nausea and dizziness. I added salt back to my food (which was a delicious problem to have!) And I haven't felt dizzy like that since!
I've been to the doctor and they told me I'm healthy. There are also studies out there that show a U shaped curve for salt intake, where too little can be dangerous. So I think those studies make sense, that a little bit of salt is necessary.
true story: i was working in a restaurant. a customer told me we should start using sea salt salt because it's healthier than regular salt. when i asked her in what way she replied, "it has fewer calories." she got very angry when i told her salt has no calories. she called me an idiot.
When I do agree with the low sodium (salt) diet (I probably consume less than 500 mg a day), I must point out that they were cases of under-educated long-distance runners dying because they would not eat any salt and drink a lot of water (too much water). They did not understand that human body can assimilate only at most 1 quart (almost 1 liter) of water per hour ("Lore of Running," Tim Noakes, MD); however, extra water can still lower the sodium levels in human bloodstream by washing the salt out of the digestive system.
It's called hyponaetremia, and happens when you consume too much water and/or too little salt. That's why electrolyte sports drinks are important for athletes. When you sweat, you excrete massive amounts of sodium and other minerals (including iodine).
I know I'm commenting rather late on this but this was exactly my experience when I first got into running when I was 15. Not as tragically, obviously, or I wouldn't be here, but I would be dizzy and sometimes even have diarrhea the entire day after I went for a long run (10k+). I wasn't yet vegan but already ate mostly whole food plant based back then and barely ever added any salt to anything because it's just common knowledge that too much salt is unhealthy - but I had no idea that too little could be dangerous, too. Then, over the years I read tons of articles written by sports scientists and coaches and people with actual real life experience as athletes saying that, depending on your individual genes or whatever determines that, you lose between 500 mg and 2000 mg of sodium with each liter of sweat! You can actually just weigh yourself pre- and post-workout to figure our how much you sweat more or less. Obviously, most of the weight you lose will be water and with that water, you'll lose sodium. I'm not a pro athlete or anything but I sometimes get white salt stains on my clothes when working out in hot weather and my sweat stings in my eyes and tastes quite salty, so I assume I'm just at the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to the amount of sodium I lose sweating. And, living in hot Southern Spain, I often weigh 3-4 kg less after a 2-3 hour run than before, which probably means that I lost over 3 liters of sweat, meaning up to 6000 mg of sodium. (Again, I'm not an expert and I don't know if all that weight is actually sweat, but what else would it be? I figure that if I burn about 800 calories an hour, that's at most 0.2 kg of glycogen and fat plus whatever amount of water is bound up with that, so something like 80% of the weight lost must be water, most of which through sweat.) I realise that Mike talks more about the general population in his video, that most people who have to worry about their sodium intake are more sedentary, and that my account here is just anecdotal, nor do I have any degree or anything in nutrition, but I have found that I recover so much better after a long run (in my case usually 1-3 hours) and without any headaches or diarrhea if I just add between 3 and 10 grams of common iodised tablesalt to my food on those long run days, the exact amount depending on the weather and the duration of the workout. And the added salt was the only change I made. I try to stay away from sports drinks and stuff with other additives, so one of my favourite post-run drinks I can really recommend both in terms of taste and effect is just a large smoothie made with a bunch of ripe tomatoes (that will also replace some of the glucose and other minerals you've lost, I imagine), a little bit of avocado or some other healthy fat, maybe some nuts or seeds and whatever amount of salt you figure you need to replace the sodium you lost working out and other spices if you like them. Obviously black pepper and oregano go really well with tomatoes. I really don't think any of what I described would be an issue for anyone working out in colder climates or for less than an hour. And, as I've said, that's just what I've figured out for my own body, nor do I know if it's ideal. I just can't be bothered (or afford haha) to pay for a nutritionist or pro coach. But I don't think sodium restriction is necessary or even healthy for every lifestyle in every climate and for everyone. It would be interesting to know if there's a difference in the amount of sodium lost through sweating in different populations rather than just individuals within populations. If those people Mike mentioned in the video who consume less than 200 mg of sodium a day maybe have genetics or other adaptations that protect them from losing so much sodium, or if it's maybe similar to lactose tolerance that was an adaptation to dairy farming in some populations. Maybe Europeans like myself and other cultures that began adding sodium to their diets some millenia ago became more "salt-tolerant" by excreting more sodium with their sweat to compensate for the consumption of added salt? Maybe this tolerance even developed into a dependence (at least for those individuals who sweat a lot due to climate and/or lifestyle). Just a hypothesis. I also figure that for the athlete, the calcium thing wouldn't be as much of an issue, since the sodium doesn't have to be excreted by the kidneys but rather through the skin.
Trust me guys. As you slowly cut your salt use you will begin to enjoy the subtle flavors of these plant foods without added salt. Just add garlic and citrus and other things to make the foods more flavourful.
As an Informatics major, the way you present information is great. People can understand it far easier than a research paper. The fact that we have such a large amount of information that people can't scan through makes videos like this much more important.
@@Yersinia What I stated (2 years ago) has nothing to do with causation vs. correlation. Rather presentation of information. Which is far from veracity. Making something easy to digest is a difficult skill especially when it pertains to translating studies and research papers. It's something I do for a living. So, I'm expressing appreciation of taking a difficult subject and making it easier to understand. That being said, I'd love to see timestamps of when he is making assumptions of causation or correlation that aren't based in the results of a study that he's referencing. I haven't watched this or his channel for a while, but I don't mind learning more regarding the points he's made in the video.
If meat weren't salted, would anyone eat it? Here is a short animated video that covers this topic from Veganimation: ua-cam.com/video/tdDiCCmsr-E/v-deo.html
@ Vegan "Lies" You grew up eating meat, like I did. Your meat was salted, right? The first time you were told to eat your food by your parents, try to imagine how you would have reacted if your meat dish was served without salt. I can enjoy many foods without seasoning, but meat would not be one of them. Of course, I wouldn't eat meat anyway now.
I have been on a very low sodium diet for a couple years and realized I have been peeing more even though I have not been drinking more water. After ruling out things like diabetes or other issues that can cause this, I read where having too little sodium in your body can make you pee excessively because the kidney needs to retain a certain amount of sodium in the body. On a super low salt diet the kidney signals the body to flush more water to raise the sodium concentration to a level the body needs. After reading about this I experimented by gradually adding some salt to my food. It did indeed stop the excessive peeing. Not sure what it did to my blood pressure though. . .
Watch 1:03 again. Might be the extra salt is slowing down your kidneys. You should probably check your blood pressure on both super low salt and the current levels to see if you are trading excessive peeing for another problem.
I agree.. I took notice of this. When i started the gallon(water) a day challenge. I would seriously have to run to the restroom to urinate. Started adding pink Himalayan salt.. And feel more hydrated less aggressive bathroom callings.
its true that we need some salt, it keeps water managment in our body in check, if u add just a pinch of salt to ur drink, ur body will absorb it better, just read how electrolyte drinks work
@KolTony nah it's accumulative substance meaning overtime you're only gonna make the blood pressure worse if u continue to pour salt over your food. Whole foods already have enough sodium there's no reason to screw up mineral ratios by adding some crushed rocks to your meal.
I’m glad you covered salt as being addictive. I have a savoury tooth and 100% have a problem (or addiction) to salt. When I tell people this they look at me like I’m mad lol. It’s much easier to eat a no added salt whole plant diet or to have very little salt if any.
OMG! me too...when i tell people i want to cut down my salt intake because i heard it increases hypertension and stomach cancer risks, they don't think salt can be an issue. Like you, i have a salty/savoury tooth. My snacks are crisps, chips, chevda etc. I add table salt to my food. I even used to eat table salt. I think it's because there isn't much awareness of excess salt being a health risk. People are only aware of risks of excess sugar intake
@@janejustin1788 Hope you are achieving your salt reduction. I love and have used excess salt for years, and the only way out for me has been to cut it out 100%, otherwise I'll backslide.
Vegans might have lower blood pressure because of increased potassium consumption from vegetables, not just reduced sodium consumption. There are plenty of vegan foods, after all, that are not low in sodium. Salt is a delicate issue. Most Americans probably do get too much, and it's often paired with unhealthy foods to make them more palatable. But on the other hand, it's an essential mineral, and getting too little can have serious health consequences, especially if you live in a hot climate.
I get about 1g of iodized salt (400mg sodium) most days, for the iodine. Iodine deficiency is a real health risk with WFPB diet in most parts of the world, and it can lead to grossly impaired cognitive function and the usual thyroid issues. Deficiencies vegans should be aware of and supplement are : B12, Vit.D, and iodine.
helicart there are iodine rich foods and sea vegetables :) no need to take a supplement and too much iodine can be harmful as well. As far as vit B12 and vit d that's pretty much everyone, regardless of their diet.
Iodine content of (unprocessed) food is subordinate to iodine content of the soils the food is grown in, and this varies within nations and between. i.e Europe has less average soil iodine than the US. Coastal soils have higher iodine content than non coastal. Seaweeds are not universally consumed most days of the week by vegans, and not all seaweeds have adequate levels. Seaweeds have issues with toxic arsenic content. Seaweeds have significant sodium content, so eating them in volumes for adequate iodine gives no advantage over consuming appropriate levels of iodized salt. Cruciferous vegetables and soy products impair gut absorption of iodine. Considering a real consequence of deficient iodine during pregnancy and in young children, is cretinism, adequate intake is not a trivial matter. Further, people living in humid tropical and subtropical climes where sweat rates are higher, will not get enough salt from a no salt diet.
I got myself some organic kelp powder. It's just dried and powdered kelp. (NOW brand, 8 oz. Has 2522 servings in the container.) I put one of the TINY scoops into my salad dressing. You really can't taste it.
If I don't eat enough salt I get severe leg cramps at night. I thought it was potassium or magnesium, but I eat avocados and broccoli literally every day and Blood work showed both were in the high normal range. Started eating more salt and the cramps went away. Blood pressure has gone down as well. When you say 2300mg is the RDA for sodium you don't realize just how much salt that really is. Its almost a full teaspoon of salt. How much sodium is in veggies?? Not much. Look up high sodium veggies and tell me how much of it you need to eat to get to 2300mgs??
Great video! Going SOS free (added salt, oil and sugar) was one of the best decisions of my life. Healthier, better digestion and you get to appreciate the raw and real tastes of foods (with exceptions of eating out, gotta live a little). PLUS I didn't know about the calcium thing, glad I learnt that :D
I use very little salt but am unable to restrict it to the ideal level of 1,5 grammes per day and I know no one who has been able to do this, as far as I can determine. In Germany the take on salt is, ideally 3 grammes or less per day, but never more than 6 grammes per day. I went salt free for several months and found I did not enjoy my food. So I began using it moderately again, especially using vegetable boulion when cooking - but very moderately.
hey Mic, nice job, consider this, there is inorganic sodium, like table salt..and organic sodium that which is found in plants..The human body cannot use inorganic minerals, but it can use organic minerals..what say you?
Everyone has an expiration date and will die. So if one doesn't die from heart disease, cancer or diabetes due to following a strict diet, what will they die from in the end?
The lack of fresh vegetables in the diet is probably the cause of high stomach cancer rates in Asia. It's definitely something that I think it's so clear cut.
I’m not sure if you’ve made anything addressing it yet. I’m just now binging your videos. I have hypotension and I can’t find any vegan doctors talking about that. It happened when I started losing weight on a vegan diet 5 years ago. It goes away when I eat processed food, but obviously that’s not in line with my weight goals. It also sucks to be dizzy often though.. so I’ve been stuck in a weird health place. I’m hoping someone can make a good video on how to combat this with a vegan diet. What’s weird is, even with adding extra salt to whole foods, I still get dizzy. It’s only when I’m eating both frequently and eating processed foods that the dizziness goes away :/
I have Dysautonomia it's a condition that causes me to faint. Doctor's have all told me salt is the best medicine for me because it keeps my blood pressure up. If I don't have salt it's to low. Unfortunately there's no vegan doctors who talk about it.
Have you tried celery juice upon waking? It has a bunch of natural sodium although in a good balance with potassium. It may help your electrolyte balance.
oɌionⓋ ive read that our bodies do not absorb the minerals as well in that raw state. It is better and more efficient for plants to absorb the minerals and process them into phytochemicals which we can easily take in. :)
You showed how 75% of our salt intake comes from processed foods so maybe salt intake in these studies is just a marker for processed and bad foods that already are bad for us and not the salt itself that causes the problems.
What are you talking about? Are you saying a large salt intake isn’t bad if done in a healthy way? Cause unfortunately that’s wrong, and he did also mention that tribe that took in almost no sodium
After watching Dr. Michael Klaper who is a teacher at a medical school and who was an anesthesiologist, orthopedic doctor and emergency room doctor as well - he states salt dries out your arteries and veins and makes cracks in them. This then catches particles of cholesterol and starts the build up of lesions in your veins and arteries. Salt pulls water out of your cells and then makes your body retain it putting more pressure on your heart. I have gone without salt for 2 years. My taste buds have become much more alert to flavors and now I dont' crave salt as much. Of course it's in almost everything so if you have anything that's processed it's there - any sauce, any dried food, etc. It's everywhere - and as you said it's already in all foods. Thank you for this video! Love all your videos.
I also have pots. I like nuun electrolyte tablets. They have several times the sodium of other electrolyte products that I've seen, taste good and they're vegan. Much better than canned meat, which the cardiologist recommended as a way for me to consume more salt. I'm serious.
I honestly noticed no benefit from not using salt. I don't even care for salt. In fact, I don't even need lemon, vinegar, or seasoning. No garlic or onion. I can eat bland rice and beans with nothing added, and be perfectly happy with it. But since I quit salt, I do not notice any difference in how i feel. I think it's ineffective to try and avoid something that doesn't make a difference in how I feel. I noticed a difference from not eating oil and sugar, but not salt.
Do some research yourself and check out diffrent sources instead of relying on these youtubers. Is it really salt in the diet or something else that raises blood pressure the most and is it always bad? openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000167
That study is epidemiological lol.. it is the salt because it is not balanced with potassium, magnesium or calcium! or water lol. OFC they can blame refined carbs because they always add salt to them!
Awesome thank you so much for your videos. Personally, I use Himalayan salt, but very little and hardly any in the winter. I think a person who perspires frequently might need to have more in their diet, but maybe that's a myth too.
I’d check out “the salt fix” guys. If ur insulin resistant fix that before increasing salt. But the complete opposite appears true. Look up “the salt fix” to save me typing a book. Research backed by a cardio researcher with hundreds of peer reviewed studies. We should b eating more salt.
What about the idea that without a good amount of sodium, you are more susceptible to cramps? This is important to me personally because I'm an athlete and I hate getting cramps. I try eating more salt to compensate.
Hi Mic. I infrequently eat anything with added salt. However I do believe, when I want to put salt in what I make (vegan soup, stews. etcetera) I use celtic sea salt with 84 minerals. I also exercise a lot and feel big execrisers DO need to supplement with electrolytes or a pinch of celtic sea salt.
I have never tolerated added salt and if I ate out, I would always bloat and be incredibly thirsty. I have always been criticised for eliminating salt as most people believe we need it. You have cleared this up, thank you. I use Celtic sea salt as an occasional foot scrubber and Himalayan pink salt as a small dehumidifier.
Hmm. This is directly opposite to the conclusion of "Salt: are you getting enough" by what I've learned. I'm confused. South Koreans consume almost double the recommended salt intake but have very low cardiovascular disease levels. Some research shows that reducing salt us associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events. There is clearly more to this than less salt = good.
I can’t watch this in case it's against salt.....I need a bit on my life, I use Real Salt and Braggs Liquid Aminos and hope I’m not making a mistake. Will watch later when I’m braver.
Bragg's has a LOT more sodium in it than people think (definitely more than low sodium soy sauce) because the serving size listed on the bottle is different than on soy sauce.
I googled Bragg's: 320mg/1 tsp. Low-sodium soy: 600mg/1 Tbsp OR 200mg/1 tsp. Coconut aminos: 90mg/1 tsp. Coconut aminos ingredients: "Organic coconut tree sap aged and blended with sun-dried, mineral-rich sea salt." It's a good substitute, but more sweet than salty.
My blood pressure used to be really low, I was almost hospitalized, so I started eating a lot of salt all the time, my blood pressure is normal now, I try to eat mostly whole food and I’m vegan, and I avoid added sugar, but I don’t do salt free
Hello Mike Great video. Although I expected you to talk about increasing your potassium intake to counteract some of the negative effects of salt (while of course cutting the latter down). At least in my experience increasing potassium intake also helps to reduce cravings for salt and sweets.
In the Book „Salt fat Acid Heat“ it says that you need to add salt to the water when cooking noodles. Because if you don’t, the water would contain less minerals than the noodles and during the cooking process the mineral content in the pot will even out. So the noddles will lose minerals. I’ve tried to reduce salt as much as possible for a few months now. But when cooking noodles I’m still not sure what to do. What do you think?
Dr. Greger did a piece on miso paste. This is of course a super salty product but it's also soy and fermented. Do the same principals apply to this? Or other fermented food? Or is the science not out yet? I've replaced all salt with miso paste instead, however if you've got some insight that'd be awesome!! Thanks for your videos.
Same exact thought. I gave myself time until I naturally hit a point of being tired of needing salt to like my food. Been salt free a few weeks now. Food already tastes naturally rich and good. Not as intense as before, admittedly, but I am enjoying it and I also have better apetite control. Takes some getting used to tho
If you really love salt, then don't worry. When you first go salt free your food will taste very bland, but it doesn't stay that way. What a lot of people don't know is that salt is extremely addicting. After a couple of weeks with no salt your addiction will go away and even the most bland whole food plants will taste good again.
I wouldn't worry about it to be honest, unless you're sensitive to salt. There are varying studies on salt, many of them don't isolate other possible factors or associations- like that many meats/processed foods are heavily salted and that those foods themselves are bad for you for other reasons. There are also studies suggesting that low salt intake could be associated with higher triglycerides, cholesterol, and risk of type2 diabetes. It's really hard to tell what we should do at the moment, more research needs to be done. The best thing to do, IMO, is test your blood pressure and if it's high, cut back on salt for a week or two and see if it actually helps.
You can just reduce it... or change it to products like "No Salt", or something similar, (if they sell such stuff at the area you live in) which have all the benefits of salt but without the sodium.
Unfortunately that is not entirely true. Some people tend to have low blood pressure. For those people, getting rid of salt is far from attainable. And just like I answer meat eaters, this time I have to answer you the same way Mic, sorry. 5000 years ago people lived much shorter, not really a good comparison. In addition, their food cleaning process was way different. I'm sure they would get salt from dirt more than we do.
Hi Mic, do you make your own sauerkraut?, (or I should say, 'do you prepare sauerkraut', as it makes itself -magic) If so do you lean towards using less salt than commonly added. I've seen that it will work with non, just water, but I'm guessing the jar really needs to be clean for it to stay good that way
Turqoise I have trouble digesting certain raw foods such as spinach, but I put cooked Lentils on top to cook them a bit so they are easier to digest, but sometimes the spinach leaves don't get fully cooked so my stomach may get Irritated. I also do intermittent fasting, so I may have lower stomach acid than most people when eating my first meal of the day. Now I'm not saying I use salt every day, but I do use it when I have a pinch to fix intestinal discomfort, which only happens about 1 time a month or less. 😀
@Peter Rabitt _"My two cents - Salt has no effect on my digestion at all. It does raise my BP by 40 points"_ That is a very significant rise. The average rise for each teaspoon is around 0.5 to 4 mmHg in both systolic and diastolic pressure. Do you eat a lot of greens and maybe beans as well? The blood pressure increasing effects of salt are accentuated by a low intake of potassium - i.e. potassium is a "counter" to the unhealthy effects of regular salt.
My doctor told me my blood pressure was abnormally low (It was actually just at a normal range) I've been vegan for 6 Years, I eat out very rarely, and don't add a lot of salt to my food. She recommended to eat more salt....yeah....I'm good.
And furthermore, the primary way you reduce or eliminate your risk of ischemic stroke and heart attacks is getting your cholesterol down to the normal/healthy range (35-60), at which point plaque no longer forms in people's arteries and heart attacks and strokes are incredibly rare. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109704007168 dresselstyn.com/JFP_06307_Article1.pdf And the best way to get your LDL that low is via a very low fat vegan diet. So, if Dr. Fuhrman is saying that, he has obviously lost sight of the big picture--the lowest overall rates of disease and mortality come from a very low fat plant-based diet that gets LDL levels down to ~35-60. If all those benefits come with a small increase in a rarer type of stroke (hemorrhagic), then so be it.
I drink a gallon of water a day. Sometimes a gallon and a half... Does that negate some of the bad effects of salt consumption? I definitely get more sodium than I should.
Thanks for explaining the process behind the effect of salt on kidney function. I knew it had an impact, but I wasn't quite sure how. Another good one, keep 'em coming please!
My blood pressure gets too low without a little salt in my diet. I know it's too low when I get light headed when going from sitting, laying down, or squatting to standing. My overall consumption is still not very high since I'm eating food I make, so much of it fruit.
Your videos actually make me laugh so much more than I would expect! You have such a good, straight forward way of speaking that is clear and easy to understand and you manage to cover so much information in such a short time. Thank you for all the amazingly helpful information. You have helped me so much to describe the healthy factors of my vegan diet to skeptical friends and family.
Eating too little sodium can also have some serious health problems. Apparently it can even cause you to fall into a coma or something...I recently heard of a guy who had that happen to him.I don't really track my sodium intake, i just eat a whole food vegan diet, which as you said is naturally low in sodium. Many ppl have said that you get enough sodium from your food without needing to add extra yourself.Should i be worried of having too low sodium on a whole food plant based diet?
This sounds incredibly boring and difficult. How do I go out to dinner with friends? Do I order plain salad with no dressing? Do I order a side of sliced lemon? Yes, what you are suggesting is probably “ideal,” but incredibly unrealistic in the real world. I think it’s better to just have a balanced approach. Eat some vegan processed food, but eat MORE whole plant foods. Telling people to “cut out” foods that are incredibly commonplace and difficult to avoid is not helpful.
Healthiest diet is mainly whole foods, but even more importantly a diet you can actually stick to. Having a (vegan) burger here and there won't kill you if you eat well 90% of the time.
@@sewil I agree completely that used to say moderation of cigarettes and moderation of using cocaine when it was in Coca-Cola so yes moderation is the key moderation of poisonous substances in your body
This is somewhat misleading. There has been shown that there is a significant increase in all rate mortality in low sodium diets compared to moderate sodium diets, and you have to go all the way up to 12,000 mg of salt to get the same mortality that a 1000 mg sodium diet has. Mortality is the lowest at around 2,000 to 4,000 mg (depending on your lifestyle, with hydration, sweating and exercise factoring in). To "save" people from stomach cancer by eating a low sodium diet is like peeing in your pants to keep warm in the cold - it won't help in the long run. Heart disease is MANY times more common than stomach cancer, and you have a many fold higher chance of dying from heart disease on a low sodium diet than from stomach cancer on a high sodium diet - the highest rate of stomach cancer you showed there (in Korea) was 41.8 cases per 100,000 people/year, which is a 0.04% chance of developing stomach cancer each year. Sodium is an essential mineral and we will die without it, and due to its very important functions (especially in nerves), it's better to get a slight overdose than any "underdose" at all. Sodium has also been shown to "only" affect blood pressure in 1/3 of people and it seems to be closely linked to a too low level of potassium as well. A high potassium diet makes one more resistent to the blood pressure increasing effects of sodium. A low sodium diet increases insulin resistence and can contribute to type 2 diabetes as well. I was told all that jazz about sodium being bad for you when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 14 (14 years ago) in order to protect my arteries, and by the age of 20 I had hypertension and almost constant leg cramps every night and constant headaches. I was shown to have low serum sodium and was eventually reluctantly told to increase the sodium in my diet. Headaches decreased, leg creamps basically gone and hypertension gone. I know it's anecdotal, but just to show people that sodium isn't as dangerous as it's made out to be. As for iodine, most of the world is deficient in iodine, and it's the most common cause for preventable mental deficiencies in the world. Rather eat idodized salt, than be afraid of the "dangers" of a moderate salt diet.
Lemonz1989 thanks for providing a rational response to counter all this anti-salt hysteria. Good lord, leave this essential mineral alone. In healthy amounts, unrefined mineral salt added to one's food can do wonders for one's body. I've been a proud vegan for over 3.5 years, but it seems that vegans go out of their way sometimes to find villains in things that don't exist.
wesrhdtyj Like the person said whom I originally replied to, added mineral salt in healthy amounts is actually beneficial for the body. There's nothing wrong with adding something that has all the electrolytes and a ton of trace minerals IN ITS NATURAL STATE to soup or another vegan dish. Just like the fruit and vegetables we eat have all the nutrients in their natural state. I also did a 7-day water fast last month, and frequently put a pinch of RealSalt on my tongue to keep me healthy during my fast by normalizing my blood pressure, critically important when one is going many days without food. Listening to people like Mic one can learn a lot about healthy food. But I also eat intuitively, and this trumps what any blogger may say.
Bryan N just because something has positive sides to it, doesn't mean its healthy. Like low carb diets are good if you're D2. Finding use of something in extreme conditions is not natural or healthy overall. I'm not saying what you're saying is wrong, I understand the logic behind it and why it worked when you fasted. Edit: the reason I say low carb diets are good if you're D2 is because it doesn't spike your sugar levels, that's the only good thing about it. It does not fix the problem at all.
wesrhdtyj There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice/studies these days about salt..Maybe we're being distracted with all this anti-salt mania to take our attention away from a more serious health problem, added sugar, which is infinitely more dangerous than real mineral salt. And to add another layer of confusion that yet another thing is dangerous for us to consume. If it comes from the earth in its natural state, like fruit and vegetables, and is stacked with many trace minerals and all the electrolytes, I don't see the danger...to me, it's more fear-mongering than anything. It's not like I'm supplementing it in the form of pills because I consume it in its natural state. And eating natural mineral salt is not finding use of something in extreme situations. Every cell in our body requires this vital electrolyte.
The information about the Korean diet is interesting! I didn’t know about their salt intake. A Korean girl I worked with was in her early 20’s and told me she had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. I was totally shocked. We often ate lunch together and she always appears to eat healthy food. I wasn’t vegan then and not so conscious of food. I recall she ate a lot of vegetables. I couldn’t understand how someone so young got that diagnosis. 😢
Check out Dr. James DiNicolantonio to learn about salt. He's been researching salt for years, wrote a book about it. Salt is an essential nutrient, so important for so many things in your body. Don't get refined table salt though, get an unrefined salt like redmond, himalayan, celtic etc... There is no strong evidence showing unrefined salt is bad in itself. Don't blame the salt for what the processed food causes.
Im taking a medication that reduces the sodium level in my blood and eat a healthy vegan diet, i temporarily stopped using salt and was having fainting spells and my doctor told me not to reduce my salt, are you saying my doctor is wrong?
Love your channel! Can you do one on smoothies? There are so many confusing beliefs coming from doctors you mention. Esselstyn is against them, but Greger is okay with them. Also, a video geared towards weight loss as a vegan would be great too. Thank you!
Yes. I love this video. I am breastfeeding and crave salt and pepper. Why? I drink 1 gallon of water a day. I pump 40-60 ounces of breast milk a day. Does my body need salt when breastfeeding?
Your body may be craving electrolytes like potassium, magnesium and, yes, sodium. You may want to increase your non-sodium electrolytes and slightly increase your sodium intake if that doesn't work.
Anna Ferrell You should only drink water when you're thirsty. Humans have an amazingly well functioning system to guide your water consumption need, especially when you eat healthy to begin with. Forcing a gallon of water down your throat will just deplete your electrolytes. It's true thay we need something like a gallon of water per day, but that gallon includes all the water that is in your food which is actually where you get most of your water requirements. When breast feeding the rule doesn't change. Drink when you're thirsty.
Breastfeeding is very dehydrating, and you probably need electrolytes with all the water you're chugging. If you crave salt, eat it. It's really important to listen to your body when you're pregnant/breastfeeding!
I have low blood pressure so I only add salt to beans and mushrooms or sushi (soysauce), and that generally raises it to 96/60 or so (my sodium intake varies from like 600-1200mg).
The tap water isn't exactly clean either :( www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/06/plastic-fibres-found-tap-water-around-world-study-reveals You'd have to check this for yourself because I forgot where I saw it (maybe it was in this article too), but apparently an average family is putting the equivalent of a plastic bag directly down the pipes/into rivers and the sea each week through washing clothing containing plastic microfibres. I think polyester fleece is meant to be the worst offender, which would make sense considering how fluffy it is and how easy it is to pull off, depending on the clothing.
I have high blood pressure, before medication my reading was 222/111 and I was in trouble, I had cerebral ischemia, I went veggie then onto Quorn, that I have since given up, I would get really bad headaches and palpitations that would last for hours a couple of hours after eating Quorn, I now eat mainly oats only, salt for me is a killer and must be avoided! my father died 48yrs with the same thing so I am walking on thin ice!
Jameson Jones If you can only eliminate one thing, just eliminate white Don't eat anything white. Since both are typically white, you won't eat as much
I was hoping to hear you tell me salt isn't so bad because it's literally essential for neurons to function properly but instead, unsurprisingly you seem to want to convince people that salt really is " *that* bad"
I have to disagree with the video, the science is still not clear on salt. All those seeing this video just keep in mind that many of the studies showing that salt is bad don't isolate salt from the bad foods that contain it (as the video mentioned: processed foods/meats). There is conflicting studies as well, some studies suggest sodium has almost no impact on blood pressure (for most people) or that people with the least sodium excretion actually have higher cardiovascular death rates. I strongly suggest you do some research on your own as there is still quite a bit of controversy on the subject. If you have high blood pressure you can always experiment with yourself, try lowering salt intake and if it helps, keep doing it- just keep in mind that most of our salt comes from processed foods. As an anecdote, I eat plant based foods but probably consume more salt than a whole family of Asians. I still have low blood pressure. Contrast that with my dad that had hypertension his entire life and wasn't aloud to add salt to any foods and he was restricted from eating certain foods. Despite having severely reduced salt intake and high blood pressure medication, he still died at a young age from a heart attack. I'm thinking maybe salt wasn't the problem? Tons of doctors tell us to cut down on things while ignoring the fact that we're only going to compensate it with other things- like sugar and fat. We need to give people the whole picture, some perspective. Salt may be bad but it's far from the worst. -It's kind of ironic how I get morbidly overweight people chiming in an telling me salt is bad for my health, these are usually the same people I watch stuff their faces with Cokes and processed meats. I've always felt like the campaign against salt was more-so a campaign to alleviate the pressure off of sugar, even fat got thrown under the bus. People should be watching their sugar intake more than anything. www.businessinsider.com/how-bad-for-you-is-sodium-or-salt-if-you-dont-have-high-blood-pressure-2017-5
Salt has been given confusing counter 'research' financed by the Salt Institute. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. You seem to have been confused by their work.
A large amount of studies in general are funded by some industry with a financial benefit with one outcome or another, that's why you need to look at the numbers yourself. I mean, if I looked at all of the anti-salt studies I'm sure I'd find just as many industries involved. Also, as I said, I never said salt was great for people, just that it seems relatively harmless for most people (unless they have salt sensitivity or hypertension already) **in comparison to everything else we eat.** It's like being worried about a mosquito bite when we're on a sinking ship. Yeah, mosquitos can be dangerous in special circumstances but we really should be worried about other things. Also, the way diet works, it's often that things might be replaced with other things. Salt may be substituted for increased sugar or fat intake, things that are most likely worse for you. Also, for some people, having low salt intake may actually be bad for them as evidenced by some studies. Here are some studies/analysis that didn't seem to be funded by industry (at least not directly): www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30467-6/abstract jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/899663 www.jci.org/articles/view/88532 Like I said. More research really needs to be done. Also, since each person varies so much, you should really test it yourself. Test your blood pressure before and after you cut salt out, give it a few weeks so that your body can adjust. What's so complicated about that? For me personally, I can eat 10,000 mg a day and still have low blood pressure. I'm fairly sure it's not increasing my blood pressure at this point.
The studies showing low salt intake 'may actually be bad for them' are put together by Salt Institute prostitutes. Their trick is to include unhealthy people in their cohorts -- particularly people with congestive heart failure who must eat a very low sodium diet. Dr. Greger explained it quite well a while ago. Let's find the link . . . nutritionfacts.org/video/sodium-skeptics-try-to-shake-up-the-salt-debate/
Most studies/science papers will admit the evidence is not conclusive and more research needs to be done, half the papers I read have said this. One of the links I provided was also a meta-analysis of 7 other studies. Normally Dr Gregor's studies would be good enough but seeing as there is so many conflicting studies, a better study really needs to be constructed, possibly one that factors in potassium. As I said, most of our salt comes from processed foods so lowering salt intake usually requires limiting the consumption of those foods, it's possible that it's the foods themselves or low potassium to salt ratio. Also, industry funded studies have to be somewhat true even if they are misleading. They usually get their results through P value hacking or simply ignoring other factors/painting the perfect picture. *I don't suggest people eat as much salt as I do, I'm just an opponent of demonizing salt over other foods.* The thing about veggies is that salt makes them more palatable, same for sugar and fat. The question is, if we take salt out of our diets, what will we replace it with? Who will want to eat veggies without salt? Let's be real. You should know how the general population is, if food doesn't taste good people won't eat it. This may be why some studies found low salt diets had higher insulin resistance and other negative health effect, probably more related to the other crap they were eating as opposed to salty foods. Salt, in essence, is the lesser evil and considering there are populations out there with much higher salt intake and low occurrence of cardiovascular disease, it really does mean that whatever evidence we do have against salt at least needs to be researched more, preferably research within the same populations with the same food. Like I said, salt needs to be put into perspective. It may be bad for you in large doses but so is 90% of the other crap we eat. Telling people to eat less salt may actually end up hurting them if they don't understand how that danger relates to other food options.
isnt there a dif between using table salt and something like pink himalayan salt which has all sorts of minerals in it. i was told that using the latter is good for you. just using table salt is bad because all it is is sodium and chloride.
I think that the high rates of stomach cancer in Korea would be more to do with the very high consumption of alcohol than salt but I guess salt may contribute a little.
I ate a low sodium diet (1000-1200mg/day) for almost two years and I started progressively getting more and more faint upon standing, nearly passing out during exercise and feeling persistent vertigo all day. I got my blood pressure checked a few times and at its highest it was 100/60. My doctor suggested I increase my sodium, so without changing my diet whatsoever, I started adding small amounts of table salt in. Two months later, my orthostatic hypotension is gone, my blood pressure is slightly higher and I am able to work out once again without getting dizzy. I'm not disputing that excessive sodium is bad, but I think for some people too little can be dangerous too.
Yeah don't mess with your ELECTROLYTES! Damned things are important. Some people like Dr. Stephen Phinney suggest you have some salt prior to a workout.
Thank you for doing all the homework for us! The "white powder" sugar is talked about so much and salt rarely gets covered. I'll have to chill on the salt ;)
Athletes can definitely use more salt although that really depends on your diet.I wouldn't necessarily add more , but i wouldn't avoid it. Just drink enough water and try to get more calcium in you.
Great video. I eat 100% whole foods so no added salt. I use very little Himalayan sea salt in cooking so I'd say I'm good with my sodium levels :) blood pressure is always amazing
I get on average 50 mg of sodium per day according to chronometer. I don't eat any added sodium, my diet is mainly oats and lentils. Is 50 mg too little sodium?
Peter.plantfueled. Lima .....no its not true, you actually need less. That's you body sweating out the excess sodium. You'd be better off with less sodium.
Peter.plantfueled.Lima It's more likely that you are eating too much salt and that is a way for your body to eliminate it. I suggest you take Mic's advice and use Cronometer or similar app to keep track of your salt intake for a day or two. I'm a runner too and bought the myth that runners need to be constantly replenishing their salt. My blood pressure started to go up after I started running and so I did some research. No, runners don't need to replenish salt beyond what they get in a good diet. People who work or do extreme exercise for long periods in extremely hot and humid conditions may need more, but just like protein requirements, you'll get more because you eat more. Most running doesn't require it, even in hot weather. Runners (like most people) are fonts of misinformation about diet and nutrition. Unfortunately, so are many of the magazines and other sources runners turn to. You know, like how you need all that lean protein (e.g. meat) or that you should drink chocolate milk after a run, lol.
Peter.plantfueled. Lima .....I suggest recording your intake for a day, there may be some somewhere in something and if not then your body just gets rid of it that way, no big deal, but if your level is good and your pressure is good then I wouldn't worry about it. I will say, I used to make my shirts white and then I got my sodium down below 1000mg and now it doesn't happen anymore. Some days I have less than 500mg. Plus, I just feel a lot better in every way. Try tracking for a day, you may be surprised. Good luck.
Hey Mic, just wanted you to know the UA-cam ad before this vid was for a ketogenic quick start guide :/ not sure if you have any input regarding your ads but I know you wouldn’t be super happy about this!! Thanks for your work and passion.
My wife is Korean, and I ate Korean food for 42 yrs.. I quit Korean food exactly on yr. ago, July 2017 after doing months of research. I went on the anti salt, oil, and sugar diet, in ten wks. I quit five meds., lost 17 pounds, and my Arthritis is gone. I'm whole food plant based for life. Sadly my doctor just doesn't understand how I did this, seems he don't know a damn thing about nutrition, and he's 71 yrs. old. He told me I should eat meat, and drink milk, OMG will the medical field ever learn anything.
Art Johnson only 1/4 of medical schools require doctors to take even a SINGLE nutrition course. Doctors are highly uneducated in nutrition and their nutrition advice shouldn’t really be trusted
That's amazing!
Congrats, that's amazing!!
Good for you, keep it up and fire the doctor!
Nice man I don't plan on getting arthritis playing guitar as well
I used to eat absolutely 0 added salt (and I eat whole foods vegan, cook everything at home, so I made sure it was 0) because of videos by Dr. Greger saying we don't need any beyond what's naturally found in food. I started feeling dizzy and nauseous all the time, and monthsss later saw a video by Bonnie Rebecca about why she started eating salt again, because lack of salt made her blood pressure too low causing nausea and dizziness. I added salt back to my food (which was a delicious problem to have!) And I haven't felt dizzy like that since!
TheOnlyFairee yes just add some salt when u make pasta or sauteed veggies thats what i do so ik i dont go over board or too little
TheOnlyFairee The problem isn't the lack of salt but an abnormal blood pressure, which is caused by other factors.
Like what other factors?
No healthy person suffers from low blood pressure, so it would be necessary to improve health condition.
I've been to the doctor and they told me I'm healthy. There are also studies out there that show a U shaped curve for salt intake, where too little can be dangerous. So I think those studies make sense, that a little bit of salt is necessary.
true story: i was working in a restaurant. a customer told me we should start using sea salt salt because it's healthier than regular salt. when i asked her in what way she replied, "it has fewer calories."
she got very angry when i told her salt has no calories. she called me an idiot.
This comment made my day. Thanks for the laugh man.
The stupid customer is always right!
John Adams customers are always right, until they walk out the door son
😂😂
Well, sea salt IS better . . . because it doesn’t contain chemical anti-clumping agents. That woman, though. 😂
When I do agree with the low sodium (salt) diet (I probably consume less than 500 mg a day), I must point out that they were cases of under-educated long-distance runners dying because they would not eat any salt and drink a lot of water (too much water). They did not understand that human body can assimilate only at most 1 quart (almost 1 liter) of water per hour ("Lore of Running," Tim Noakes, MD); however, extra water can still lower the sodium levels in human bloodstream by washing the salt out of the digestive system.
It's called hyponaetremia, and happens when you consume too much water and/or too little salt. That's why electrolyte sports drinks are important for athletes. When you sweat, you excrete massive amounts of sodium and other minerals (including iodine).
I know I'm commenting rather late on this but this was exactly my experience when I first got into running when I was 15. Not as tragically, obviously, or I wouldn't be here, but I would be dizzy and sometimes even have diarrhea the entire day after I went for a long run (10k+). I wasn't yet vegan but already ate mostly whole food plant based back then and barely ever added any salt to anything because it's just common knowledge that too much salt is unhealthy - but I had no idea that too little could be dangerous, too.
Then, over the years I read tons of articles written by sports scientists and coaches and people with actual real life experience as athletes saying that, depending on your individual genes or whatever determines that, you lose between 500 mg and 2000 mg of sodium with each liter of sweat! You can actually just weigh yourself pre- and post-workout to figure our how much you sweat more or less. Obviously, most of the weight you lose will be water and with that water, you'll lose sodium. I'm not a pro athlete or anything but I sometimes get white salt stains on my clothes when working out in hot weather and my sweat stings in my eyes and tastes quite salty, so I assume I'm just at the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to the amount of sodium I lose sweating. And, living in hot Southern Spain, I often weigh 3-4 kg less after a 2-3 hour run than before, which probably means that I lost over 3 liters of sweat, meaning up to 6000 mg of sodium. (Again, I'm not an expert and I don't know if all that weight is actually sweat, but what else would it be? I figure that if I burn about 800 calories an hour, that's at most 0.2 kg of glycogen and fat plus whatever amount of water is bound up with that, so something like 80% of the weight lost must be water, most of which through sweat.)
I realise that Mike talks more about the general population in his video, that most people who have to worry about their sodium intake are more sedentary, and that my account here is just anecdotal, nor do I have any degree or anything in nutrition, but I have found that I recover so much better after a long run (in my case usually 1-3 hours) and without any headaches or diarrhea if I just add between 3 and 10 grams of common iodised tablesalt to my food on those long run days, the exact amount depending on the weather and the duration of the workout. And the added salt was the only change I made.
I try to stay away from sports drinks and stuff with other additives, so one of my favourite post-run drinks I can really recommend both in terms of taste and effect is just a large smoothie made with a bunch of ripe tomatoes (that will also replace some of the glucose and other minerals you've lost, I imagine), a little bit of avocado or some other healthy fat, maybe some nuts or seeds and whatever amount of salt you figure you need to replace the sodium you lost working out and other spices if you like them. Obviously black pepper and oregano go really well with tomatoes.
I really don't think any of what I described would be an issue for anyone working out in colder climates or for less than an hour. And, as I've said, that's just what I've figured out for my own body, nor do I know if it's ideal. I just can't be bothered (or afford haha) to pay for a nutritionist or pro coach. But I don't think sodium restriction is necessary or even healthy for every lifestyle in every climate and for everyone.
It would be interesting to know if there's a difference in the amount of sodium lost through sweating in different populations rather than just individuals within populations. If those people Mike mentioned in the video who consume less than 200 mg of sodium a day maybe have genetics or other adaptations that protect them from losing so much sodium, or if it's maybe similar to lactose tolerance that was an adaptation to dairy farming in some populations.
Maybe Europeans like myself and other cultures that began adding sodium to their diets some millenia ago became more "salt-tolerant" by excreting more sodium with their sweat to compensate for the consumption of added salt? Maybe this tolerance even developed into a dependence (at least for those individuals who sweat a lot due to climate and/or lifestyle). Just a hypothesis.
I also figure that for the athlete, the calcium thing wouldn't be as much of an issue, since the sodium doesn't have to be excreted by the kidneys but rather through the skin.
@@KFLorenz wow
i wonder if they could have drank less water or ate more food and that would have helped them without taking salt
Trust me guys. As you slowly cut your salt use you will begin to enjoy the subtle flavors of these plant foods without added salt. Just add garlic and citrus and other things to make the foods more flavourful.
A. S. VanHoose still need some salt or else you will get dizzy
@[]Xanalimarie[] Foods contain sodium naturally.
A. S. VanHoose Citrus has acids that rot your teeth. Garlic gives you bad breath.
LOL
Funnily enough the only thing I put salt on are potatoes and broccoli........ they taste horrid to me otherwise.....
So glad you made a video on this! Thanks Mic
As an Informatics major, the way you present information is great. People can understand it far easier than a research paper. The fact that we have such a large amount of information that people can't scan through makes videos like this much more important.
Are you kidding me? This douchebag can't tell difference between correlation and causation and you are praising his information presenting skills? LOL
@@Yersinia What I stated (2 years ago) has nothing to do with causation vs. correlation. Rather presentation of information. Which is far from veracity. Making something easy to digest is a difficult skill especially when it pertains to translating studies and research papers. It's something I do for a living. So, I'm expressing appreciation of taking a difficult subject and making it easier to understand. That being said, I'd love to see timestamps of when he is making assumptions of causation or correlation that aren't based in the results of a study that he's referencing. I haven't watched this or his channel for a while, but I don't mind learning more regarding the points he's made in the video.
5 years later and this comment holds true-er than ever.
That is the most accurate imitation of an artery on the Internet! You win, sir!
he took the wig off for that one.
best joke of the day
Lol no
Don't talk to men its haram
I love that this is the top comment
If meat weren't salted, would anyone eat it?
Here is a short animated video that covers this topic from Veganimation: ua-cam.com/video/tdDiCCmsr-E/v-deo.html
Some Guy I would and so would millions of others
@ Vegan "Lies"
You grew up eating meat, like I did. Your meat was salted, right? The first time you were told to eat your food by your parents, try to imagine how you would have reacted if your meat dish was served without salt. I can enjoy many foods without seasoning, but meat would not be one of them. Of course, I wouldn't eat meat anyway now.
Some Guy im pretty sure most kids eating meat for the first time would enjoy meat with or without salt. Lol.
@ Vegan "Lies"
You have not presented any arguments worth debating. I am going to spend my time elsewhere.
Some Guy lol neither did you. It funny how delusional you are. Have a great day.
i stopped adding salt to pretty much all my food a while back and your taste buds definitely adjust!
Are you still not salting? Any updates
You are hilarious, intelligent, and amazing. Thank you for all you do!! You are making a huge positive difference in my life.
"what did you just watch? I don't know" LMAO I love this guy
I have been on a very low sodium diet for a couple years and realized I have been peeing more even though I have not been drinking more water. After ruling out things like diabetes or other issues that can cause this, I read where having too little sodium in your body can make you pee excessively because the kidney needs to retain a certain amount of sodium in the body. On a super low salt diet the kidney signals the body to flush more water to raise the sodium concentration to a level the body needs. After reading about this I experimented by gradually adding some salt to my food. It did indeed stop the excessive peeing. Not sure what it did to my blood pressure though. . .
Curt Randall you're simply addicted to salt. Normies gon normie
Watch 1:03 again. Might be the extra salt is slowing down your kidneys. You should probably check your blood pressure on both super low salt and the current levels to see if you are trading excessive peeing for another problem.
I agree.. I took notice of this. When i started the gallon(water) a day challenge. I would seriously have to run to the restroom to urinate. Started adding pink Himalayan salt.. And feel more hydrated less aggressive bathroom callings.
i think your over hydrating yes its a thing
its true that we need some salt, it keeps water managment in our body in check, if u add just a pinch of salt to ur drink, ur body will absorb it better, just read how electrolyte drinks work
WTF I actually thought about reducing my salt intake today and now this video comes out haha
Vince and here am i a year later with suggested
@KolTony but it stays in your blood
@KolTony nah it's accumulative substance meaning overtime you're only gonna make the blood pressure worse if u continue to pour salt over your food. Whole foods already have enough sodium there's no reason to screw up mineral ratios by adding some crushed rocks to your meal.
I’m glad you covered salt as being addictive. I have a savoury tooth and 100% have a problem (or addiction) to salt. When I tell people this they look at me like I’m mad lol. It’s much easier to eat a no added salt whole plant diet or to have very little salt if any.
OMG! me too...when i tell people i want to cut down my salt intake because i heard it increases hypertension and stomach cancer risks, they don't think salt can be an issue. Like you, i have a salty/savoury tooth. My snacks are crisps, chips, chevda etc. I add table salt to my food. I even used to eat table salt. I think it's because there isn't much awareness of excess salt being a health risk. People are only aware of risks of excess sugar intake
@@janejustin1788 Hope you are achieving your salt reduction. I love and have used excess salt for years, and the only way out for me has been to cut it out 100%, otherwise I'll backslide.
Vegans might have lower blood pressure because of increased potassium consumption from vegetables, not just reduced sodium consumption. There are plenty of vegan foods, after all, that are not low in sodium.
Salt is a delicate issue. Most Americans probably do get too much, and it's often paired with unhealthy foods to make them more palatable. But on the other hand, it's an essential mineral, and getting too little can have serious health consequences, especially if you live in a hot climate.
I get about 1g of iodized salt (400mg sodium) most days, for the iodine.
Iodine deficiency is a real health risk with WFPB diet in most parts of the world, and it can lead to grossly impaired cognitive function and the usual thyroid issues. Deficiencies vegans should be aware of and supplement are : B12, Vit.D, and iodine.
helicart there are iodine rich foods and sea vegetables :) no need to take a supplement and too much iodine can be harmful as well. As far as vit B12 and vit d that's pretty much everyone, regardless of their diet.
Iodine content of (unprocessed) food is subordinate to iodine content of the soils the food is grown in, and this varies within nations and between.
i.e Europe has less average soil iodine than the US. Coastal soils have higher iodine content than non coastal.
Seaweeds are not universally consumed most days of the week by vegans, and not all seaweeds have adequate levels.
Seaweeds have issues with toxic arsenic content.
Seaweeds have significant sodium content, so eating them in volumes for adequate iodine gives no advantage over consuming appropriate levels of iodized salt.
Cruciferous vegetables and soy products impair gut absorption of iodine.
Considering a real consequence of deficient iodine during pregnancy and in young children, is cretinism, adequate intake is not a trivial matter.
Further, people living in humid tropical and subtropical climes where sweat rates are higher, will not get enough salt from a no salt diet.
helicart. That's a dangerous way of getting iodine.
@Dinar
give me the science behind your fearful belief.
I got myself some organic kelp powder. It's just dried and powdered kelp. (NOW brand, 8 oz. Has 2522 servings in the container.) I put one of the TINY scoops into my salad dressing. You really can't taste it.
If I don't eat enough salt I get severe leg cramps at night. I thought it was potassium or magnesium, but I eat avocados and broccoli literally every day and Blood work showed both were in the high normal range. Started eating more salt and the cramps went away. Blood pressure has gone down as well. When you say 2300mg is the RDA for sodium you don't realize just how much salt that really is. Its almost a full teaspoon of salt. How much sodium is in veggies?? Not much. Look up high sodium veggies and tell me how much of it you need to eat to get to 2300mgs??
Great video! Going SOS free (added salt, oil and sugar) was one of the best decisions of my life. Healthier, better digestion and you get to appreciate the raw and real tastes of foods (with exceptions of eating out, gotta live a little). PLUS I didn't know about the calcium thing, glad I learnt that :D
I use very little salt but am unable to restrict it to the ideal level of 1,5 grammes per day and I know no one who has been able to do this, as far as I can determine. In Germany the take on salt is, ideally 3 grammes or less per day, but never more than 6 grammes per day. I went salt free for several months and found I did not enjoy my food. So I began using it moderately again, especially using vegetable boulion when cooking - but very moderately.
what about the salt that is 50% salt and 50% potassium chloride? That would be a way of lowering your salt intake and still having tasty dishes.
Potassium chloride is a type of salt though
hey Mic, nice job, consider this, there is inorganic sodium, like table salt..and organic sodium that which is found in plants..The human body cannot use inorganic minerals, but it can use organic minerals..what say you?
The body can't use table-salt? What the actual fxxk!? 😂😂
ua-cam.com/video/amJ-ev8Ial8/v-deo.html
Thanks for another educational and entertaining video :)
Everyone has an expiration date and will die. So if one doesn't die from heart disease, cancer or diabetes due to following a strict diet, what will they die from in the end?
The lack of fresh vegetables in the diet is probably the cause of high stomach cancer rates in Asia. It's definitely something that I think it's so clear cut.
I've also read that Asians smoke a lot but I'm not sure.
I'm from Brazil and It was nice to hear about our indians If the europeans haven't got here we were doing pretty well
I’m not sure if you’ve made anything addressing it yet. I’m just now binging your videos. I have hypotension and I can’t find any vegan doctors talking about that. It happened when I started losing weight on a vegan diet 5 years ago. It goes away when I eat processed food, but obviously that’s not in line with my weight goals. It also sucks to be dizzy often though.. so I’ve been stuck in a weird health place. I’m hoping someone can make a good video on how to combat this with a vegan diet. What’s weird is, even with adding extra salt to whole foods, I still get dizzy. It’s only when I’m eating both frequently and eating processed foods that the dizziness goes away :/
I have Dysautonomia it's a condition that causes me to faint. Doctor's have all told me salt is the best medicine for me because it keeps my blood pressure up. If I don't have salt it's to low. Unfortunately there's no vegan doctors who talk about it.
Have you tried celery juice upon waking? It has a bunch of natural sodium although in a good balance with potassium. It may help your electrolyte balance.
I try to keep it under 1000mg. Some days I only get around 500mg. I found trace sea minerals are good.
oɌionⓋ ive read that our bodies do not absorb the minerals as well in that raw state. It is better and more efficient for plants to absorb the minerals and process them into phytochemicals which we can easily take in. :)
we the treeple maybe fat helps absorbtion
You showed how 75% of our salt intake comes from processed foods so maybe salt intake in these studies is just a marker for processed and bad foods that already are bad for us and not the salt itself that causes the problems.
Yup
Maybe that's one of the reasons that processed food is unhealthy [not maybe]
@@nicholasstoker284 no
@@idontthinkso6172 huh????
What are you talking about? Are you saying a large salt intake isn’t bad if done in a healthy way? Cause unfortunately that’s wrong, and he did also mention that tribe that took in almost no sodium
After watching Dr. Michael Klaper who is a teacher at a medical school and who was an anesthesiologist, orthopedic doctor and emergency room doctor as well - he states salt dries out your arteries and veins and makes cracks in them. This then catches particles of cholesterol and starts the build up of lesions in your veins and arteries. Salt pulls water out of your cells and then makes your body retain it putting more pressure on your heart. I have gone without salt for 2 years. My taste buds have become much more alert to flavors and now I dont' crave salt as much. Of
course it's in almost everything so if you have anything that's processed it's there - any sauce, any dried food, etc. It's everywhere - and as you
said it's already in all foods. Thank you for this video! Love all your videos.
I require a ton of salt everyday in order not to faint. I have POTS which causes severe low blood pressure so salt helps keep my blood pressure up
Then make sure to keep that up!
It's far better to have too much salt than not enough.
Celery juice on an empty stomach is really good at stabilizing blood pressure, because it has natural salts in it
Sophie Slater licoricee
Sophie Slater me too!!
I also have pots. I like nuun electrolyte tablets. They have several times the sodium of other electrolyte products that I've seen, taste good and they're vegan. Much better than canned meat, which the cardiologist recommended as a way for me to consume more salt. I'm serious.
I honestly noticed no benefit from not using salt. I don't even care for salt. In fact, I don't even need lemon, vinegar, or seasoning. No garlic or onion. I can eat bland rice and beans with nothing added, and be perfectly happy with it. But since I quit salt, I do not notice any difference in how i feel. I think it's ineffective to try and avoid something that doesn't make a difference in how I feel. I noticed a difference from not eating oil and sugar, but not salt.
What difference did you notice from not eating oil and sugar? Or oil alone?
Hello, only a few seconds in but I'm sure this is going to be up to your usual standard of quality. Thanks for the upload
Do some research yourself and check out diffrent sources instead of relying on these youtubers.
Is it really salt in the diet or something else that raises blood pressure the most and is it always bad?
openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000167
That study is epidemiological lol.. it is the salt because it is not balanced with potassium, magnesium or calcium! or water lol. OFC they can blame refined carbs because they always add salt to them!
@@mortenandersson9358 nice observational study lol
Awesome thank you so much for your videos. Personally, I use Himalayan salt, but very little and hardly any in the winter. I think a person who perspires frequently might need to have more in their diet, but maybe that's a myth too.
Am I mentally okay for snorting salt?
Yes
No
yes totally mentally healthy my friend.
no, i do it too
I'm a fan of the free-range salt. Helps me lie to myself about my decisions.
I’d check out “the salt fix” guys. If ur insulin resistant fix that before increasing salt. But the complete opposite appears true. Look up “the salt fix” to save me typing a book. Research backed by a cardio researcher with hundreds of peer reviewed studies. We should b eating more salt.
What about the idea that without a good amount of sodium, you are more susceptible to cramps? This is important to me personally because I'm an athlete and I hate getting cramps. I try eating more salt to compensate.
You need more potassium not more salt to prevent cramps.
Hi Mic. I infrequently eat anything with added salt. However I do believe, when I want to put salt in
what I make (vegan soup, stews. etcetera) I use celtic sea salt with 84 minerals. I also exercise a lot and feel big execrisers DO need to supplement with electrolytes or a pinch of celtic sea salt.
Don’t ever stop with fun stuff (Southern fried artery).
I have never tolerated added salt and if I ate out, I would always bloat and be incredibly thirsty. I have always been criticised for eliminating salt as most people believe we need it. You have cleared this up, thank you. I use Celtic sea salt as an occasional foot scrubber and Himalayan pink salt as a small dehumidifier.
Thanks mic, great stuff, learn a lot, i hit that like button.
what about salt and exercise? Is it needed? And is it true that animals seek sodium?
Do a video on meat production efficiency: amount of land, calories, pollution, government subsidies and how would a plant based world look like.
he already did its called end world hunger on his channel look it up
HE DID
Hmm. This is directly opposite to the conclusion of "Salt: are you getting enough" by what I've learned. I'm confused. South Koreans consume almost double the recommended salt intake but have very low cardiovascular disease levels. Some research shows that reducing salt us associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events. There is clearly more to this than less salt = good.
I can’t watch this in case it's against salt.....I need a bit on my life, I use Real Salt and Braggs Liquid Aminos and hope I’m not making a mistake. Will watch later when I’m braver.
Sidilicious yes you need salt but its talking avout not going overbroad
Bragg's has a LOT more sodium in it than people think (definitely more than low sodium soy sauce) because the serving size listed on the bottle is different than on soy sauce.
I googled Bragg's: 320mg/1 tsp.
Low-sodium soy: 600mg/1 Tbsp OR 200mg/1 tsp.
Coconut aminos: 90mg/1 tsp.
Coconut aminos ingredients: "Organic coconut tree sap aged and blended with sun-dried, mineral-rich sea salt."
It's a good substitute, but more sweet than salty.
byusaranicole - i switched to coconut aminos a few months ago, instead of tamari, and am loving it!!
Merlin Hawk Liquid aminos is just hydrolyzed soy protein not harmful
My blood pressure used to be really low, I was almost hospitalized, so I started eating a lot of salt all the time, my blood pressure is normal now, I try to eat mostly whole food and I’m vegan, and I avoid added sugar, but I don’t do salt free
Hello Mike
Great video. Although I expected you to talk about increasing your potassium intake to counteract some of the negative effects of salt (while of course cutting the latter down).
At least in my experience increasing potassium intake also helps to reduce cravings for salt and sweets.
In the Book „Salt fat Acid Heat“ it says that you need to add salt to the water when cooking noodles. Because if you don’t, the water would contain less minerals than the noodles and during the cooking process the mineral content in the pot will even out. So the noddles will lose minerals.
I’ve tried to reduce salt as much as possible for a few months now. But when cooking noodles I’m still not sure what to do. What do you think?
...... I thought sodium only came from salt..... WELL I KNOW NOW SO YOU CANT TALK ABOUT ME!!!!
Dr. Greger did a piece on miso paste. This is of course a super salty product but it's also soy and fermented. Do the same principals apply to this? Or other fermented food? Or is the science not out yet? I've replaced all salt with miso paste instead, however if you've got some insight that'd be awesome!! Thanks for your videos.
My only vice left .. salt... Nooooooooooooooooo
Same exact thought. I gave myself time until I naturally hit a point of being tired of needing salt to like my food. Been salt free a few weeks now. Food already tastes naturally rich and good. Not as intense as before, admittedly, but I am enjoying it and I also have better apetite control. Takes some getting used to tho
If you really love salt, then don't worry. When you first go salt free your food will taste very bland, but it doesn't stay that way. What a lot of people don't know is that salt is extremely addicting. After a couple of weeks with no salt your addiction will go away and even the most bland whole food plants will taste good again.
I wouldn't worry about it to be honest, unless you're sensitive to salt. There are varying studies on salt, many of them don't isolate other possible factors or associations- like that many meats/processed foods are heavily salted and that those foods themselves are bad for you for other reasons. There are also studies suggesting that low salt intake could be associated with higher triglycerides, cholesterol, and risk of type2 diabetes. It's really hard to tell what we should do at the moment, more research needs to be done. The best thing to do, IMO, is test your blood pressure and if it's high, cut back on salt for a week or two and see if it actually helps.
Switch to cocaine.
You can just reduce it... or change it to products like "No Salt", or something similar, (if they sell such stuff at the area you live in) which have all the benefits of salt but without the sodium.
Mic, dude, you're just getting funnier and funnier. Love it. Great way spread information :)
A4V: How bad is it really?
Good science with a bit of fun! Great stuff.
Unfortunately that is not entirely true. Some people tend to have low blood pressure. For those people, getting rid of salt is far from attainable.
And just like I answer meat eaters, this time I have to answer you the same way Mic, sorry. 5000 years ago people lived much shorter, not really a good comparison. In addition, their food cleaning process was way different. I'm sure they would get salt from dirt more than we do.
Sorry, Gigi, but you're wrong.
Reverend Al about???
Reverend Al you’re a part of the toxic vegan culture that makes everyone think we are all as insufferable as you.
Hi Mic, do you make your own sauerkraut?, (or I should say, 'do you prepare sauerkraut', as it makes itself -magic) If so do you lean towards using less salt than commonly added. I've seen that it will work with non, just water, but I'm guessing the jar really needs to be clean for it to stay good that way
I find that if I add salt when my digestion is poor, then it helps a lot.
Turqoise I have trouble digesting certain raw foods such as spinach, but I put cooked Lentils on top to cook them a bit so they are easier to digest, but sometimes the spinach leaves don't get fully cooked so my stomach may get Irritated. I also do intermittent fasting, so I may have lower stomach acid than most people when eating my first meal of the day. Now I'm not saying I use salt every day, but I do use it when I have a pinch to fix intestinal discomfort, which only happens about 1 time a month or less. 😀
Sodium is needed for proper digestion. It's used by the nerves in the gut and to control fluid balance in the cells. :)
Interesting, I find my digestion is worse with salt.
I think that poor chewing of green leafy veggies like spinach can make your digestion worse. Chewing your food really properly is very important.
@Peter Rabitt _"My two cents - Salt has no effect on my digestion at all. It does raise my BP by 40 points"_
That is a very significant rise. The average rise for each teaspoon is around 0.5 to 4 mmHg in both systolic and diastolic pressure. Do you eat a lot of greens and maybe beans as well? The blood pressure increasing effects of salt are accentuated by a low intake of potassium - i.e. potassium is a "counter" to the unhealthy effects of regular salt.
My doctor told me my blood pressure was abnormally low (It was actually just at a normal range) I've been vegan for 6 Years, I eat out very rarely, and don't add a lot of salt to my food. She recommended to eat more salt....yeah....I'm good.
Dr. Furhman talks about the dangers of salt for vegans, they are at a higher risk of ishemic stroke, due to lower cholesterol levels.
No, lower LDL is associated with lower risk of ischemic stroke, but higher rates for hemorrhagic stroke, but ischemic is by far the more common.
This is what Dr. Furhman said. Check it out for yourself. ;)
And furthermore, the primary way you reduce or eliminate your risk of ischemic stroke and heart attacks is getting your cholesterol down to the normal/healthy range (35-60), at which point plaque no longer forms in people's arteries and heart attacks and strokes are incredibly rare.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109704007168
dresselstyn.com/JFP_06307_Article1.pdf
And the best way to get your LDL that low is via a very low fat vegan diet.
So, if Dr. Fuhrman is saying that, he has obviously lost sight of the big picture--the lowest overall rates of disease and mortality come from a very low fat plant-based diet that gets LDL levels down to ~35-60. If all those benefits come with a small increase in a rarer type of stroke (hemorrhagic), then so be it.
I don't believe that's what Dr. Furhman stated.
Laura, He may have said it--but I just rebutted it while you were messaging me.
I drink a gallon of water a day. Sometimes a gallon and a half... Does that negate some of the bad effects of salt consumption? I definitely get more sodium than I should.
Fuck... This is like a scared straight video for me. 😭💔
High carb diet causes hypertension. When I went on LC diet my BP went down by 20 points.
Thanks for explaining the process behind the effect of salt on kidney function. I knew it had an impact, but I wasn't quite sure how. Another good one, keep 'em coming please!
My blood pressure gets too low without a little salt in my diet. I know it's too low when I get light headed when going from sitting, laying down, or squatting to standing. My overall consumption is still not very high since I'm eating food I make, so much of it fruit.
Your videos actually make me laugh so much more than I would expect! You have such a good, straight forward way of speaking that is clear and easy to understand and you manage to cover so much information in such a short time. Thank you for all the amazingly helpful information. You have helped me so much to describe the healthy factors of my vegan diet to skeptical friends and family.
Eating too little sodium can also have some serious health problems. Apparently it can even cause you to fall into a coma or something...I recently heard of a guy who had that happen to him.I don't really track my sodium intake, i just eat a whole food vegan diet, which as you said is naturally low in sodium. Many ppl have said that you get enough sodium from your food without needing to add extra yourself.Should i be worried of having too low sodium on a whole food plant based diet?
please cut out processed foods, even vegan processed food
This sounds incredibly boring and difficult. How do I go out to dinner with friends? Do I order plain salad with no dressing? Do I order a side of sliced lemon? Yes, what you are suggesting is probably “ideal,” but incredibly unrealistic in the real world. I think it’s better to just have a balanced approach. Eat some vegan processed food, but eat MORE whole plant foods. Telling people to “cut out” foods that are incredibly commonplace and difficult to avoid is not helpful.
Healthiest diet is mainly whole foods, but even more importantly a diet you can actually stick to. Having a (vegan) burger here and there won't kill you if you eat well 90% of the time.
@@sewil I agree completely that used to say moderation of cigarettes and moderation of using cocaine when it was in Coca-Cola so yes moderation is the key moderation of poisonous substances in your body
@@brendandalton7879 Yeah, eat your salad with those toxic oxidized seed oil dressings.
@@dondajulah4168, I’ll probably be just fine with my salad dressings. But thanks for the sanctimonious fear-mongering!
Where do I get iodine then? I don't eat much salt, i eat whole foods. But the soil where I live doesn't have much iodine. How do I resolve this?
This is somewhat misleading. There has been shown that there is a significant increase in all rate mortality in low sodium diets compared to moderate sodium diets, and you have to go all the way up to 12,000 mg of salt to get the same mortality that a 1000 mg sodium diet has. Mortality is the lowest at around 2,000 to 4,000 mg (depending on your lifestyle, with hydration, sweating and exercise factoring in). To "save" people from stomach cancer by eating a low sodium diet is like peeing in your pants to keep warm in the cold - it won't help in the long run. Heart disease is MANY times more common than stomach cancer, and you have a many fold higher chance of dying from heart disease on a low sodium diet than from stomach cancer on a high sodium diet - the highest rate of stomach cancer you showed there (in Korea) was 41.8 cases per 100,000 people/year, which is a 0.04% chance of developing stomach cancer each year. Sodium is an essential mineral and we will die without it, and due to its very important functions (especially in nerves), it's better to get a slight overdose than any "underdose" at all. Sodium has also been shown to "only" affect blood pressure in 1/3 of people and it seems to be closely linked to a too low level of potassium as well. A high potassium diet makes one more resistent to the blood pressure increasing effects of sodium. A low sodium diet increases insulin resistence and can contribute to type 2 diabetes as well.
I was told all that jazz about sodium being bad for you when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 14 (14 years ago) in order to protect my arteries, and by the age of 20 I had hypertension and almost constant leg cramps every night and constant headaches. I was shown to have low serum sodium and was eventually reluctantly told to increase the sodium in my diet. Headaches decreased, leg creamps basically gone and hypertension gone. I know it's anecdotal, but just to show people that sodium isn't as dangerous as it's made out to be.
As for iodine, most of the world is deficient in iodine, and it's the most common cause for preventable mental deficiencies in the world. Rather eat idodized salt, than be afraid of the "dangers" of a moderate salt diet.
Lemonz1989 thanks for providing a rational response to counter all this anti-salt hysteria. Good lord, leave this essential mineral alone. In healthy amounts, unrefined mineral salt added to one's food can do wonders for one's body.
I've been a proud vegan for over 3.5 years, but it seems that vegans go out of their way sometimes to find villains in things that don't exist.
Bryan N if you need to keep something in check for it to be healthy, it's not healthy
wesrhdtyj Like the person said whom I originally replied to, added mineral salt in healthy amounts is actually beneficial for the body. There's nothing wrong with adding something that has all the electrolytes and a ton of trace minerals IN ITS NATURAL STATE to soup or another vegan dish. Just like the fruit and vegetables we eat have all the nutrients in their natural state.
I also did a 7-day water fast last month, and frequently put a pinch of RealSalt on my tongue to keep me healthy during my fast by normalizing my blood pressure, critically important when one is going many days without food.
Listening to people like Mic one can learn a lot about healthy food. But I also eat intuitively, and this trumps what any blogger may say.
Bryan N just because something has positive sides to it, doesn't mean its healthy. Like low carb diets are good if you're D2.
Finding use of something in extreme conditions is not natural or healthy overall.
I'm not saying what you're saying is wrong, I understand the logic behind it and why it worked when you fasted.
Edit: the reason I say low carb diets are good if you're D2 is because it doesn't spike your sugar levels, that's the only good thing about it. It does not fix the problem at all.
wesrhdtyj There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice/studies these days about salt..Maybe we're being distracted with all this anti-salt mania to take our attention away from a more serious health problem, added sugar, which is infinitely more dangerous than real mineral salt. And to add another layer of confusion that yet another thing is dangerous for us to consume.
If it comes from the earth in its natural state, like fruit and vegetables, and is stacked with many trace minerals and all the electrolytes, I don't see the danger...to me, it's more fear-mongering than anything. It's not like I'm supplementing it in the form of pills because I consume it in its natural state.
And eating natural mineral salt is not finding use of something in extreme situations. Every cell in our body requires this vital electrolyte.
The information about the Korean diet is interesting! I didn’t know about their salt intake. A Korean girl I worked with was in her early 20’s and told me she had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. I was totally shocked. We often ate lunch together and she always appears to eat healthy food. I wasn’t vegan then and not so conscious of food. I recall she ate a lot of vegetables. I couldn’t understand how someone so young got that diagnosis. 😢
Check out Dr. James DiNicolantonio to learn about salt. He's been researching salt for years, wrote a book about it. Salt is an essential nutrient, so important for so many things in your body. Don't get refined table salt though, get an unrefined salt like redmond, himalayan, celtic etc... There is no strong evidence showing unrefined salt is bad in itself. Don't blame the salt for what the processed food causes.
Mic was probably the only guy that looked forward to doing class presentations
It's not the salt! It's the animal products that comes with the salt!
What about that case study of a "zero sodium population" they ate meat and had no heart or blood pressure issues
Im taking a medication that reduces the sodium level in my blood and eat a healthy vegan diet, i temporarily stopped using salt and was having fainting spells and my doctor told me not to reduce my salt, are you saying my doctor is wrong?
i eat waaay to much salt
my dad as well and he suffers from high blood pressure but what it saves him is that he exercises daily and a lot
Ryan Stucke
You know what to do
Love your channel! Can you do one on smoothies? There are so many confusing beliefs coming from doctors you mention. Esselstyn is against them, but Greger is okay with them. Also, a video geared towards weight loss as a vegan would be great too. Thank you!
Yes. I love this video.
I am breastfeeding and crave salt and pepper. Why?
I drink 1 gallon of water a day. I pump 40-60 ounces of breast milk a day.
Does my body need salt when breastfeeding?
Anna Ferrell minerals
Bare in mimd that not all cravings are logical when prego or breastfeeding, but it could be that you need iodine or sodium.
Your body may be craving electrolytes like potassium, magnesium and, yes, sodium. You may want to increase your non-sodium electrolytes and slightly increase your sodium intake if that doesn't work.
Anna Ferrell You should only drink water when you're thirsty. Humans have an amazingly well functioning system to guide your water consumption need, especially when you eat healthy to begin with. Forcing a gallon of water down your throat will just deplete your electrolytes.
It's true thay we need something like a gallon of water per day, but that gallon includes all the water that is in your food which is actually where you get most of your water requirements.
When breast feeding the rule doesn't change. Drink when you're thirsty.
Breastfeeding is very dehydrating, and you probably need electrolytes with all the water you're chugging. If you crave salt, eat it. It's really important to listen to your body when you're pregnant/breastfeeding!
I have low blood pressure so I only add salt to beans and mushrooms or sushi (soysauce), and that generally raises it to 96/60 or so (my sodium intake varies from like 600-1200mg).
Have you heard that most table salt has micro plastics in it now. 😔
Miss Jasmine Hoop Most bottled water has micro plastics as well, I don't know about tap water though
Pipes are made out of plastic.
The tap water isn't exactly clean either :( www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/06/plastic-fibres-found-tap-water-around-world-study-reveals
You'd have to check this for yourself because I forgot where I saw it (maybe it was in this article too), but apparently an average family is putting the equivalent of a plastic bag directly down the pipes/into rivers and the sea each week through washing clothing containing plastic microfibres. I think polyester fleece is meant to be the worst offender, which would make sense considering how fluffy it is and how easy it is to pull off, depending on the clothing.
astrodonunt Hey, you could look at the Guppyfriend or things like that if you're interested
I have high blood pressure, before medication my reading was 222/111 and I was in trouble, I had cerebral ischemia, I went veggie then onto Quorn, that I have since given up, I would get really bad headaches and palpitations that would last for hours a couple of hours after eating Quorn, I now eat mainly oats only, salt for me is a killer and must be avoided! my father died 48yrs with the same thing so I am walking on thin ice!
Ok if Im going to keep my sanity I can only eliminate one. Salt or Sugar. Which one is worse?
The question is which one do you like better?
sugar, unless it's fruit
Jameson Jones
If you can only eliminate one thing, just eliminate white
Don't eat anything white.
Since both are typically white, you won't eat as much
Lower both by half and keep the other half, that’s what I did. Weight is down 10lbs without much effort and BP is down 20 points
I think that salt would be worse. I can't quit the natural sugar in fruit.
I was hoping to hear you tell me salt isn't so bad because it's literally essential for neurons to function properly but instead, unsurprisingly you seem to want to convince people that salt really is " *that* bad"
First haha- jk i genuinely enjoy your content and a vid on veg police would be interesting. Keep it up mic
Dr James DiNicolantoni The Salt Fix. Great book!
I have to disagree with the video, the science is still not clear on salt. All those seeing this video just keep in mind that many of the studies showing that salt is bad don't isolate salt from the bad foods that contain it (as the video mentioned: processed foods/meats). There is conflicting studies as well, some studies suggest sodium has almost no impact on blood pressure (for most people) or that people with the least sodium excretion actually have higher cardiovascular death rates.
I strongly suggest you do some research on your own as there is still quite a bit of controversy on the subject. If you have high blood pressure you can always experiment with yourself, try lowering salt intake and if it helps, keep doing it- just keep in mind that most of our salt comes from processed foods. As an anecdote, I eat plant based foods but probably consume more salt than a whole family of Asians. I still have low blood pressure. Contrast that with my dad that had hypertension his entire life and wasn't aloud to add salt to any foods and he was restricted from eating certain foods. Despite having severely reduced salt intake and high blood pressure medication, he still died at a young age from a heart attack. I'm thinking maybe salt wasn't the problem? Tons of doctors tell us to cut down on things while ignoring the fact that we're only going to compensate it with other things- like sugar and fat. We need to give people the whole picture, some perspective. Salt may be bad but it's far from the worst.
-It's kind of ironic how I get morbidly overweight people chiming in an telling me salt is bad for my health, these are usually the same people I watch stuff their faces with Cokes and processed meats. I've always felt like the campaign against salt was more-so a campaign to alleviate the pressure off of sugar, even fat got thrown under the bus. People should be watching their sugar intake more than anything.
www.businessinsider.com/how-bad-for-you-is-sodium-or-salt-if-you-dont-have-high-blood-pressure-2017-5
Salt has been given confusing counter 'research' financed by the Salt Institute. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. You seem to have been confused by their work.
A large amount of studies in general are funded by some industry with a financial benefit with one outcome or another, that's why you need to look at the numbers yourself. I mean, if I looked at all of the anti-salt studies I'm sure I'd find just as many industries involved. Also, as I said, I never said salt was great for people, just that it seems relatively harmless for most people (unless they have salt sensitivity or hypertension already) **in comparison to everything else we eat.** It's like being worried about a mosquito bite when we're on a sinking ship. Yeah, mosquitos can be dangerous in special circumstances but we really should be worried about other things. Also, the way diet works, it's often that things might be replaced with other things. Salt may be substituted for increased sugar or fat intake, things that are most likely worse for you. Also, for some people, having low salt intake may actually be bad for them as evidenced by some studies. Here are some studies/analysis that didn't seem to be funded by industry (at least not directly):
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30467-6/abstract
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/899663
www.jci.org/articles/view/88532
Like I said. More research really needs to be done. Also, since each person varies so much, you should really test it yourself. Test your blood pressure before and after you cut salt out, give it a few weeks so that your body can adjust. What's so complicated about that? For me personally, I can eat 10,000 mg a day and still have low blood pressure. I'm fairly sure it's not increasing my blood pressure at this point.
The studies showing low salt intake 'may actually be bad for them' are put together by Salt Institute prostitutes. Their trick is to include unhealthy people in their cohorts -- particularly people with congestive heart failure who must eat a very low sodium diet. Dr. Greger explained it quite well a while ago. Let's find the link . . . nutritionfacts.org/video/sodium-skeptics-try-to-shake-up-the-salt-debate/
Most studies/science papers will admit the evidence is not conclusive and more research needs to be done, half the papers I read have said this. One of the links I provided was also a meta-analysis of 7 other studies. Normally Dr Gregor's studies would be good enough but seeing as there is so many conflicting studies, a better study really needs to be constructed, possibly one that factors in potassium. As I said, most of our salt comes from processed foods so lowering salt intake usually requires limiting the consumption of those foods, it's possible that it's the foods themselves or low potassium to salt ratio. Also, industry funded studies have to be somewhat true even if they are misleading. They usually get their results through P value hacking or simply ignoring other factors/painting the perfect picture.
*I don't suggest people eat as much salt as I do, I'm just an opponent of demonizing salt over other foods.* The thing about veggies is that salt makes them more palatable, same for sugar and fat. The question is, if we take salt out of our diets, what will we replace it with? Who will want to eat veggies without salt? Let's be real. You should know how the general population is, if food doesn't taste good people won't eat it. This may be why some studies found low salt diets had higher insulin resistance and other negative health effect, probably more related to the other crap they were eating as opposed to salty foods. Salt, in essence, is the lesser evil and considering there are populations out there with much higher salt intake and low occurrence of cardiovascular disease, it really does mean that whatever evidence we do have against salt at least needs to be researched more, preferably research within the same populations with the same food. Like I said, salt needs to be put into perspective. It may be bad for you in large doses but so is 90% of the other crap we eat. Telling people to eat less salt may actually end up hurting them if they don't understand how that danger relates to other food options.
Same goes for Sugar, Milk and Dairy...
Great video as always. Love how you back everything up. Very informative and entertaining at the same time. Much love brother!
Salt, the only rock we eat.
Peter Rabitt calcium carbonate is a component of rocks so no on that one. Can’t be bothered to check the other two since the first was a fail.
@Peter Rabitt no wonder my mouth would get watery when I heard someone say "limestone"
isnt there a dif between using table salt and something like pink himalayan salt which has all sorts of minerals in it. i was told that using the latter is good for you. just using table salt is bad because all it is is sodium and chloride.
I think that the high rates of stomach cancer in Korea would be more to do with the very high consumption of alcohol than salt but I guess salt may contribute a little.
I ate a low sodium diet (1000-1200mg/day) for almost two years and I started progressively getting more and more faint upon standing, nearly passing out during exercise and feeling persistent vertigo all day. I got my blood pressure checked a few times and at its highest it was 100/60. My doctor suggested I increase my sodium, so without changing my diet whatsoever, I started adding small amounts of table salt in. Two months later, my orthostatic hypotension is gone, my blood pressure is slightly higher and I am able to work out once again without getting dizzy. I'm not disputing that excessive sodium is bad, but I think for some people too little can be dangerous too.
Yeah don't mess with your ELECTROLYTES! Damned things are important.
Some people like Dr. Stephen Phinney suggest you have some salt prior to a workout.
Thank you Doctor.
Thank you for doing all the homework for us! The "white powder" sugar is talked about so much and salt rarely gets covered. I'll have to chill on the salt ;)
Can athletes get away with eating more salt because they sweat it out again?
Athletes can definitely use more salt although that really depends on your diet.I wouldn't necessarily add more , but i wouldn't avoid it. Just drink enough water and try to get more calcium in you.
Yes
If tribal people can thrive on 200 mg then like 5-600+ would probably be fine for an athlete
Yes, absolutely.
It will destroy your arteries whether or not you sweat a lot. Old athletes give themselves hypertension when they get old.
Great video. I eat 100% whole foods so no added salt. I use very little Himalayan sea salt in cooking so I'd say I'm good with my sodium levels :) blood pressure is always amazing
Yea -table salt. Pink Himalayan sea salt is excellent for cells
Thats just untrue
I get on average 50 mg of sodium per day according to chronometer. I don't eat any added sodium, my diet is mainly oats and lentils. Is 50 mg too little sodium?
Here is the reason why vegans can consume more salt.
It's because meat eaters need so much more salt on meat so they can eat it 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Raw ground beef certainly needs more salt. It's very bland
That emojis tho
Moderation is a good idea 💡. Thanks.
When I run I look like I have flour all over me, arms, neck, and face, other runners have always told me I need more salt, is this true?
Peter.plantfueled. Lima .....no its not true, you actually need less. That's you body sweating out the excess sodium. You'd be better off with less sodium.
Peter.plantfueled.Lima It's more likely that you are eating too much salt and that is a way for your body to eliminate it. I suggest you take Mic's advice and use Cronometer or similar app to keep track of your salt intake for a day or two. I'm a runner too and bought the myth that runners need to be constantly replenishing their salt. My blood pressure started to go up after I started running and so I did some research. No, runners don't need to replenish salt beyond what they get in a good diet. People who work or do extreme exercise for long periods in extremely hot and humid conditions may need more, but just like protein requirements, you'll get more because you eat more. Most running doesn't require it, even in hot weather. Runners (like most people) are fonts of misinformation about diet and nutrition. Unfortunately, so are many of the magazines and other sources runners turn to. You know, like how you need all that lean protein (e.g. meat) or that you should drink chocolate milk after a run, lol.
I eat about 80% raw, which means little to no sodium, been eating that way for about 3 years now
Peter.plantfueled. Lima .....I suggest recording your intake for a day, there may be some somewhere in something and if not then your body just gets rid of it that way, no big deal, but if your level is good and your pressure is good then I wouldn't worry about it. I will say, I used to make my shirts white and then I got my sodium down below 1000mg and now it doesn't happen anymore. Some days I have less than 500mg. Plus, I just feel a lot better in every way. Try tracking for a day, you may be surprised. Good luck.
If you are using table salt, record your salt intake to get a good picture of how much your actual intake is.
Hey Mic, just wanted you to know the UA-cam ad before this vid was for a ketogenic quick start guide :/ not sure if you have any input regarding your ads but I know you wouldn’t be super happy about this!! Thanks for your work and passion.