Our understanding of the way the body handles salt may be wrong

Re:Our understanding of the way the body handles salt may be... by MandieD on Monday May 29, 2017 @05:00AM (#14438170)

A lot of the cross-talk in the whole salt/sodium debate is caused by conflating salt (sodium chloride) with sodium, one of its constituents.

The US daily recommended sodium intake is 1.5-2.3g. The sodium component of sodium chloride is about 40%, so that's more like 3.75-5.75g of salt per day. Still lower than the study, but putting the higher recommended amount right around the lower study amount.

(I consume up to an extra teaspoon of salt each day to make sure I'm getting at least 5000mg of sodium so I don't start passing out at an inconvenient moment, on advice of a cardiologist)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Our understanding of the way the body handles salt may be... by Retric on Monday May 29, 2017 @06:43PM (#14441903)

Good catch.

These are supposed to be limits not minimum recommendations. Also people get sodium from more than just salt so 5.75g of salt is still high and calling 6g low is kind of a misnomer.

[ Parent | on HN ]