The Medical Advisor

Sodium is an essential nutrient for human health. It’s crucial for maintaining fluid balance, transmitting nerve impulses and contracting muscles. Sodium is naturally present in many foods, including vegetables, dairy products, meat and seafood. It’s also added to processed foods in the form of salt, a compound made up of sodium and chloride ions. Low-salt diets are often recommended as a tool to avoid certain chronic diseases and protect health, but salt restriction, particularly unprocessed, natural salt, often backfires. In fact, if you don’t consume enough salt, it may lead to elevated cortisol levels in your blood. Cortisol, a stress hormone, plays a vital role in your health but can lead to severe health issues like muscle breakdown, inflammation and impaired immune function when chronically elevated, which is why keeping your levels in check is so important — and why salt restriction can cause far more harm than good. As reported in a recent article in the Huffington Post , ...

The Food and Drug Administration’s drive toward salt substitutes, aimed at reducing dietary sodium, faces mounting skepticism from top health experts. Salt has been in the FDA’s crosshairs for some time. Since October 2021, the  federal agency has notably urged  restaurants and food manufacturers to take voluntary measures to reduce salt use, targeting reductions in sodium across more than 160 food categories. The FDA is advocating for a transition from traditional salt to potential lower-sodium alternatives, a notable deviation from prior guidelines, as outlined in its  proposal , “Use of Salt Substitutes to Reduce the Sodium Content in Standardized Foods.” FDA’s Salt Swap Initiative The FDA is currently revising the “ standards of identity ”—essentially the official blueprints that determine the ingredients and processes required for a product to bear a specific label, such as “bread” or “mayonnaise.” With these updates, the agency proposes that certain foods can now in...