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Comment by JohnJamesRambo | Hacker News Reader

Salt has been demonized for high blood pressure maybe unnecessarily. Morton Salt even sued about it once. Unless you are salt sensitive (most people aren’t, you’d know if you were, you would have high blood pressure) eating high salt won’t raise blood pressure. Salt away and stop denying yourself! I think it’s a masochism thing for many people.

https://time.com/3313332/salt-and-blood-pressure/

America’s high blood pressure is probably caused by that 42% obesity rate I saw yesterday…

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The time article you linked to says:

All of which is surprising given the fact that Americans are bombarded with warnings that we eat far too much: just yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report finding that 90% of U.S. children eat more sodium than guidelines recommend. Almost half of that comes from 10 processed foods that kids tend to eat a lot of: pizza, bread, processed meats, savory snacks, sandwiches, cheese, processed chicken, pasta dishes, Mexican dishes, and soup.

The CDC firmly believes that salt directly influences blood pressure. “We consider the totality of the evidence,” said Janelle Gunn of the CDC’s Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at a press conference. “A vast majority of scientific research confirms that as sodium is reduced, so is blood pressure.”

“A vast majority of scientific research confirms that as sodium is reduced, so is blood pressure.”

Is that for people who already have hypertension? There's a big difference between causing hypertension and people with hypertension being sensitive to it.

The mechanism by which salt causes high blood pressure is basic. Salt causes fluid retention.

It shouldn't if you have proper fluid intake, balanced electrolyte consumption, and renal function.

By "balanced electrolyte consumption" you mean chemicals such as sodium, right? I'll give you a moment to think about that...

Balance is within a range, nobody is saying it’s ok to drink sea water to stay hydrated. But, otherwise healthy adults can safely consume a lot more salt than people with kidney issues.

It’s largely self regulating as people naturally avoid extreme amounts of salt. Even just gargling salt water is unpleasant.

I think the point they were making is that salt when paired with adequate hydration (and offsetting losses from sweating etc.) isn't as obvious an issue.

As always, balance is key. Mediterranean diets aren't skimping on salt but the populations are (relatively) sweating often and taking hydration seriously due to the climate.

If you have an active lifestyle, it sounds reasonable that your salt tolerance could be higher (I'm not a medical professional).

Not just sweating, but eating generally healthy foods that contain potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc.

Sodium is just one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte#Physiological_impo...

The average intake for people in the US for magnesium, potassium, and calcium is well below DRI.

https://www.nature.com/articles/1001955

More support/info:

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfession...

Track your food (myfitnesspal/cronometer/etc) with a cheap gram scale and ensure you are meeting the daily recommended requirements for vitamins and minerals. Plain potatoes are a great source of magnesium and potassium, and are pretty low calorie/healthy if you don't put junk on them, but there are plenty of other foods as well.

> "A vast majority of scientific research confirms that as sodium is reduced, so is blood pressure."

Considering that sodium intake was linked to a bad diet ("Almost half of that comes from 10 processed foods that kids tend to eat a lot of: pizza, bread, processed meats, savory snacks, sandwiches, cheese, processed chicken, pasta dishes, Mexican dishes, and soup."), could this be a case of correlation not meaning causation?

Right. Yes it's diet related but that's because most American's diets are awful in general.

As an n=1 bit of anecdote, I had hypertension for years, capping out somewhere around 180/120. I was put on low sodium diets with no change at all. I was put on blood pressure medication, with modest benefits.

Then one year I arrived at my annual physical with a dramatic drop. What changed? I lost 30 pounds. The next year I arrived with another notable drop, now square in the normal BP range. What changed? I lost another 10 pounds and had picked up a fair amount of cardiovascular exercise. During this time period and to this day I never bother limiting my sodium intake, and I both have a heavy hand in the kitchen as well as eat out a lot, both leading to high levels.

Yeah working kidneys should remove salt efficiently the think is HBP often damages kidneys. So people with long term HBP may be less efficient at removing salt than others.

For some people it's a great way to get Kidney stones, so maybe there's no need to constantly reach for the shaker, just get used to less salty food and you will be ok.

>> Unless you are salt sensitive (most people aren’t, you’d know if you were, you would have high blood pressure) eating high salt won’t raise blood pressure.

The question is how you would know if you have high blood pressure. Most people don't measure their blood pressure as a matter of fact and there are no symptoms of high blood pressure until it gets really, really bad.

Probably assuming a yearly checkup.

Occasional checkups seem to have a tendency to produce inaccurate results. See white coat hypertension, discussed elswhere here. There is also white coat hypotension. In general, the most accurate measurement of blood pressure, as far as I can tell, is the measurement of so-called ambulatory pressure taken with a 24-hour meter.

Besides which a year with high blood pressure can have lasting effects.

I generally agree. However, sodium imbalance can potentially lead to higher blood pressure. Basically, if one's diet sucks and they aren't getting enough other electrolytes and water, then it could cause a temporary rise.

A lot of people would consider a diet high in salt to "suck", so what do you call a diet that doesn't suck ?

High in fats, sugars and salt?

If you are eating an otherwise healthy diet, then higher salt intake doesn't mean much. If you are eating fruits and veggies, then your electrolyte intake should be balanced enough not to matter (with sufficient hydration and renal function). For example, if you aren't eating fruits and veggies, your magnesium and potassium levels could be out of whack and cause BP issues.

"A lot of people would consider a diet high in salt to "suck"..."

I don't anyone who thinks that, so I doubt it's "a lot of people".

It sounds like you’re really saying, you can add _some_ salt to your diet, as long as it’s balanced?

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