For years, we've heard that salt causes high blood pressure, heart problems, bloating, and water retention. You’ve probably seen “low-sodium” stamped on food labels like it’s a badge of honor. Doctors often warn patients with hypertension, kidney disease, or cardiovascular issues to cut back on salt.
But is salt itself really the problem?
To answer that, we need to understand what salt is and what it does. Salt is made up of two minerals: sodium and chloride. These are electrolytes, which help regulate fluid balance, nerve signaling, and muscle contraction — including the most important muscle of all: your heart. Without enough sodium, your cells struggle to stay hydrated, your blood pressure may fall too low, and your body can’t function at full capacity.
At the most basic level, sodium is essential for your body, not optional.
It’s true that some individuals are more salt-sensitive than others. For these people, high sodium intake can contribute to elevated blood pressure.
But this isn’t the case for everyone. Most healthy people can consume moderate amounts of salt without any issues. Some research even suggests that very low sodium diets may increase insulin resistance, elevate stress hormones, and negatively affect cardiovascular health (1, 2).
So why does salt get blamed for so many problems? Often, the real culprit is the kind of salt people are eating — and what comes with it.
Table Salt vs. Natural Salt
Refined table salt is stripped of trace minerals and often contains additives to prevent clumping.
In contrast, natural salts like sea salt or Himalayan pink salt retain small amounts of minerals like magnesium, calcium, and potassium — minerals your body also needs to regulate blood pressure and balance fluids.
While natural salts still contain sodium, they are less processed and more in line with how humans consumed salt historically.
Processed Food & Fast Food
Processed food and fast food rely mainly on — you guessed it — highly processed table salt. These foods are also typically VERY high in sodium for a few key reasons — most of them related to shelf life, flavor, and food safety.
1. Preservation
Sodium acts as a preservative, helping prevent spoilage and bacterial growth. In fast/processed food, where ingredients are often pre-cooked, frozen, or stored for long periods before being reheated, salt helps keep food "safe" and consistent in texture.
2. Flavor Enhancement
Salt is a powerful flavor enhancer. It makes food taste richer and more satisfying, which is especially important in processed or mass-produced meals that may otherwise lack depth of flavor. Fast food relies heavily on salt to keep customers coming back.
3. Food Processing
Much of the sodium in processed fast food comes from highly processed salt — specifically sodium chloride that’s been stripped of minerals and often combined with anti-caking agents and stabilizers. This kind of salt is cheap, shelf-stable, and widely used in processed meats, bread, sauces, cheese, and even sweet items.
4. Portion Sizes
Fast food portions tend to be large, which compounds sodium intake. A single fast food meal can easily exceed 100–150% of the daily recommended sodium intake — often 2,300 mg or more per meal.
Highly processed foods contain a lot of refined table salt. But they also contain seed oils, added sugars, preservatives, and artificial flavors. These compounds increase inflammation, damage metabolism, and throw off blood sugar regulation.
So it’s not just that fast food sodium levels are high — it’s that it’s refined, heavily processed sodium, often unbalanced by other electrolytes like potassium or magnesium. That imbalance, along with other inflammatory ingredients (like seed oils and sugar), contributes to the health concerns commonly blamed on "salt."
When someone experiences high blood pressure or bloating after eating a fast-food meal, it’s rarely due to sodium alone. It’s the combination of processed ingredients that creates stress in the body.
“Salt-Based” Issues
Beyond high blood pressure, salt has also been blamed for bloating, water retention, and even heart disease. But these symptoms are often more complex than a single nutrient.
For example, water retention often results from inflammation, hormonal changes, or imbalances in electrolytes — not just excess salt. Bloating is frequently caused by digestive issues, food sensitivities, or low stomach acid.
Conditions like adrenal fatigue (though not officially recognized as a medical diagnosis) and chronic stress may increase sodium loss through urine, leading to symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, and salt cravings.
Your adrenal glands, which help regulate fluid balance, use sodium to maintain proper hydration and blood pressure. When you’re under prolonged stress, your body burns through sodium faster. In these cases, increasing your intake of mineral-rich salt can actually help you feel more energized and stable.
Salt’s Role in Hydration
Hydration is another piece of the puzzle.
Many people think drinking more water is the key to staying hydrated. But without enough electrolytes — especially sodium — water can dilute your body’s internal balance. This can lead to symptoms that feel like dehydration: brain fog, muscle cramps, fatigue, and headaches. If you’ve ever felt worse after drinking lots of plain water, you might not need more fluids — you might need more salt.
(P.s., this is why hydration packets taste like salt. Read more about it here).
The conversation around salt should also include the other major electrolytes: potassium, magnesium, and chloride. These minerals work together to maintain nerve function, muscle contraction, and heart rhythm. If sodium is high but potassium is too low, the imbalance can cause problems. Likewise, magnesium is necessary for hundreds of enzymatic reactions in the body, including those related to sleep, muscle recovery, and mood.
In short, blaming salt for all our health issues oversimplifies the problem. While sodium intake should be monitored, most people benefit more from improving the quality of the salt they consume and balancing it with other electrolytes (psst…most of the big electrolyte brands are just using table salt and added sugar).
That’s why our Hydrate products use a specialty hand-harvested Celtic Sea Salt® that retains over 82 trace minerals combined with other well-sourced electrolytes. So you can get all the minerals you need, without the garbage that often comes with it.
Instead of focusing on sodium reduction alone, a better strategy is to reduce processed food intake, eat more whole foods, and ensure proper hydration with minerals.
Like most things in nutrition, context matters. Not all salt is the same, and not all health problems that involve fluid retention, blood pressure, or fatigue are due to sodium. When we zoom out and look at the bigger picture — stress levels, diet quality, hydration habits, and mineral balance — we get a much clearer, more accurate story.
† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Relevant Studies
- Garg, R., Williams, G., Hurwitz, S., Brown, N., Hopkins, P., & Adler, G. (2011). Low-salt diet increases insulin resistance in healthy subjects.. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 60 7, 965-8 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2010.09.005.
- Allen, A., Gullixson, L., Wolhart, S., Kost, S., Schroeder, D., & Eisenach, J. (2014). Dietary sodium influences the effect of mental stress on heart rate variability: a randomized trial in healthy adults. Journal of Hypertension, 32, 374–382. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000045.
