Rob (Kentucky) on 03/04/2026

Source: Salt Your Way to Health, 2nd Ed., p. 59-77,2010 by David Brownstein, MD -- ( WeLib.org )

My medical training was clear: A low-salt diet was good and a high-salt diet was bad. I was taught to promote a low-salt diet in all hypertensive cases. In fact, I was taught that in order to prevent people from becoming hypertensive, it was better to encourage them to adopt a life-long dietary plan of low-salt. My experience with promoting a low-salt diet to treat hypertension was not successful. Not only did I find a low-salt diet relatively ineffective at lowering blood pressure, but I also found a low-salt diet made my patients miserable due to the poor taste of their low-salt food. Additionally, I rarely saw any positive benefits with a low-salt diet.

Early in my medical career, I accepted the "low salt=lowered blood pressure" hypothesis unquestionably. It wasn't until I began to look at my patients in a more holistic manner that I began to study the medical literature about salt. What I found was astounding; there is little data to support low- salt diets being effective at treating hypertension for the vast majority of people. Also, none of the studies looked at the use of unrefined salt, which contains many valuable vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and potassium, which are vital to maintaining normal blood pressure. This chapter will explore this topic in more detail.

Jack, age 63, had been treated for hypertension for seven years. He was taking two antihypertensive medications in order to control his blood pressure. He was on a diuretic (Dyazide) and a beta-blocker (Lopressor). "The pills work. My blood pressure is normal if I take the pills. However, I don't feel well on them. My energy level is gone and I am always tired. I can't have intercourse with my wife. Since I started the blood pressure medication I can't get an erection. Worst of all, I feel like my brain has left my head. I can't keep anything straight, " he said. Jack's complaints about low energy, sexual problems and brain dysfunction are common when taking antihypertensive medications. When I examined Jack, I found him to be deficient in most minerals. Furthermore, he was deficient in salt. When I told Jack that he needed to use unrefined salt in his diet, he was incredulous. He said, "My other doctors told me to lower my salt intake. I stopped using salt on all foods. I buy only low-salt or no¬ salt food. I was worried that the additional salt would make my blood pressure go higher." Blood work showed Jack low in sodium. I encouraged him to use unrefined salt in his diet. Salt and additional mineral supplementation had a positive effect on Jack. "My food tasted better and I felt better. After a week of the salt and supplements, my head began to clear/' Jack claimed. Within two months, Jack was able to drop one of his medications (Dyazide) and decrease the other (Lopressor) medication in half.

Jack's story is very common in my practice. I don't feel that a patient with high blood pressure has an "antihypertensive medication deficiency" syndrome requiring prescription medications. My clinical experience has been clear: when nutrient imbalances are corrected, blood pressure will normalize itself. Elevated blood pressure is a sign of a problem in the body. Searching for and treating the underlying problems causing an elevation in blood pressure is the correct path to pursue.

Salt and Hypertension:

The History

The first report of a relationship between salt and high blood pressure came about in 1904. Two researchers, Ambard and Beujard, reported that salt deprivation was associated with lowered blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Over the next 50 years, various animal models were examined to support the hypothesis of salt causing high blood pressure. In almost all of these studies, huge amounts of salt (only in the form of refined salt—sodium chloride) were given to the animals to induce a significant hypertensive effect. The usual intake of salt was 10-20 times greater than the recommended dosages for these animals. Due to the high amounts of salt given to these animals, the correlation to a human population should have been suspect. Furthermore, these studies were not done with unrefined salt and its full complement of minerals.

However, the effect of eliminating refined salt on these overdosed rodents was the dramatic lowering of blood pressure. Medical researchers seized on these results and erroneously extrapolated them to a human population. Since that time, the "low salt=low blood pressure" dogma has been accepted as gospel. In fact, in 1979, the Surgeon General issued a report, based on the above studies, that claimed salt was the cause of high blood pressure and a low-salt diet was necessary to combat this.

From that moment on, governmental agencies, researchers, medical schools, and dieticians became obsessed with the idea of lowering the national salt intake to improve hypertension in the general population. Shortly after the release of the Surgeon General's report, Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., commissioner of the FDA proclaimed, "I look forward to the day when the American public will be as conscious of sodium intake as of calorie intake. Sodium reduction must remain a general health goal for our nation."3 Without any substantial studies verifying that this idea was valid, the idea that lowering salt consumption would help improve hypertension was adopted by the medical community.

How Much Celtic Salt Should a Hypertensive Patient Consume?

Researchers have looked at numerous studies to arrive at their recommendations for sodium intake. Hypertensive patients can improve blood pressure modestly by limiting their sodium intake to 3-7 grams (approximately 1.5-7 teaspoons) of salt per day.

Too much of anything can be a problem for the body. Salt, like any substance, should not be taken in excess. Since refined salt is a toxic substance for the body, there should be no refined salt ingested in anyone's diet.

However, as has been pointed out earlier in this book, there is a great difference between refined and unrefined salt. I recommend only the use of unrefined celtic salt in one's diet. This will supply the body with over 80 minerals that are useful for maintaining the normal functioning of the body. My experience has shown that the use of unrefined sea salt has not resulted in elevated blood pressure in my patients. The amount of unrefined salt is directly related to the amount of water you consume. The more water you consume, the more unrefined salt you should ingest. I would recommend using 1/4 tsp of unrefined celtic salt for every quart of water ingested. The addition of small amounts of unrefined salt to food or cooking will not adversely affect blood pressure or other health parameters in someone with normal kidney function. For those with kidney problems, you must consult your physician on the appropriate salt intake.

Final Thoughts

My experience has clearly shown the fallacy of low-salt diets. For the great majority of people a low-salt diet does not work. People have a hard time maintaining these diets and the expected results are suboptimal. Patients do not feel well when sodium levels are lowered. Their energy level drops and they develop hormonal and immune system imbalances. Furthermore, other laboratory tests (lipid parameters) generally show worsened signs.

Physicians need a greater awareness of the difference between unrefined and refined salt. Refined salt needs to be avoided—it is a toxic, dangerous substance that fails to provide the body with little benefit. Unrefined salt should be the salt of choice.