A Teaspoon A Day

Too Much Salt Can Kill You. Too Little Salt Can Kill You. Both Of These Statements Are True - But Only One Of Them Is Likely

- Nechama Brodie

 YOU PROBABLY KNOW THIS ALREADY, BUT WE RECOMMEND TAKING (most) media advice on nutrition with a pinch of salt. Case in point: in the last 18 months, global news outlets have stated, quite dramatically, that the salt in your diet is going to kill you. And then they’ve proceeded to see-saw on whether you’ll die from an excess, or from not having enough. “Heart Attacks Could Be Caused By Too Little Salt, New Study Shows”, read a Daily Mail headline from early 2016. Just 15 months later, the same newspaper published a headline stating almost the exact opposite: “Just Two Teaspoons Of Salt A Day Damages The Heart”. Classic clickbait, right? Not really. They’re both true. One statement is just more probable than the other, and only one of them is worrying the world’s top nutrition experts.

HOW MUCH IS HEALTHY?

First, you should know that it’s almost impossible to consume too little salt. This is according to dietician and exercise physiologist Gabriel Eksteen, the nutrition science manager for the South African Heart and Stroke Foundation, who also has extensive background in working with chronic kidney disease.

“We need roughly 1g to 1.5g of salt per day,” he says – adding “less than 5% of people globally are at that level.”

In fact, research from Journal of Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases shows the average South African consumes between 6g and 11g of salt per day, significantly more than the World Health Organisation’s recommended upper limit of 5g (or one teaspoon) – although other countries, such as the US and the UK, have a slightly higher upper limit, at 6g.