Dangers of Salt - How Much Do You Need?

New York Times Bestselling Author and PLANTSTRONG founder Rip Esselstyn is back with vital information about salt. You may have wondered just how much sodium your body needs and the best way to get it. We've got answers!
Full blog post on hypertension: plantstrong.co...
Low sodium recipes: plantstrongfoo...
Low sodium whole food plant-based foods: plantstrongfoo...
47% of American Adults Have High Blood Pressure
Let’s take a few minutes to discuss the implications of that staggering statistic.
When you get your blood pressure taken at the doctor’s office, you’ll get two numbers back. The first number is your systolic blood pressure, meaning the pressure in your arteries when your heart is actively pumping blood. The second number, diastolic blood pressure, is the pressure in your arteries when your heart is resting between beats.
Ideally, according to the American Heart Association, we should have a blood pressure below 120/80.
Someone is considered to have high blood pressure if his or her reading is more than 140/90, although there is probably damage being done below this threshold.
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is known as a “silent killer” because in most cases it has no symptoms.
People with elevated blood pressure are straining their hearts by making them work harder to move blood around. Their hearts sweat and pound and gasp away, but they’re none the wiser. For this reason, the Global Burden of Disease Study, which involved more than 300 institutions in 50 countries, concluded that high blood pressure is the number-one world-wide risk factor for death, resulting in fatal heart attacks, strokes, and other catastrophic organ failures.
But, there is GOOD NEWS: Ingesting less sodium takes a lot of pressure off your body.
The basic problem with salt is that it encourages fluid retention in the body. Normally, your kidneys deploy a precise balance of potassium and sodium to remove extra water from the blood. But when you consume too much salt, this fragile sodium-potassium balance is shot to hell.
As a result, your kidneys remove less water from your system. This puts damaging pressure on blood vessels in your kidneys, and your arteries bulge to accommodate the extra fluid. Tiny muscles in your arteries beef up in an attempt to support the extra pressure, but this only makes the blood passageways smaller-which both increases blood pressure and contributes to plaque buildup.
Like a water main busting under too much pressure, your arteries too can burst suddenly without warning. Hopefully, this insight helps you understand why doctors recommend a low sodium diet when your blood pressure creeps up.
But what’s “low sodium,” really?
We recommend, over the course of a day, keeping your sodium intake around a 1:1 ratio (milligrams to calories per serving), with the goal of consuming less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
To put that in perspective, one teaspoon of salt is 2,300 mg of sodium.
If you read a label and the sodium is elevated, but it’s otherwise a whole grain, oil-free, plant-based product? Balance out the sodium by adding lots of unsalted vegetables, potatoes, and fruit to your meal.
We care about your blood pressure at PLANTSTRONG Foods and we are on a mission to show it’s possible to make delicious and satisfying products without piling on heaps of salt. We encourage you to compare our sodium levels to comparable brands-and see if we pass the salt test!

[@karlamarx5954]

When my mom had to cut salt due to her high blood pressure... She was SHOCKED at how much sodium is in food! In places youd NEVER expect!!! Crazy...👀😳

[@Murph7373]

Good to increase people’s awareness about sodium! I personally completely exclude added salt and make all meals myself. I will never buy a product that has more than 40 mg of added sodium. Canned beans must say “no salt added”. I know my body and the way it responds to extra added salt. Will never go over 40-50 mg added sodium per day. Some people tolerate larger amounts; however, it is highly individualized. End point, cook your own meals! Thank you for your podcast! Vegan for 17 years and absolutely love it! Blessings 👍🙏♥️

[@johndoe9362]

ID, It is much more difficult for men to become/stay vegan.

[@user-te2jh5oj1z]

Hi! Where do you get (actually) delicious WFPB recipes that are quick? I want to cook more at home. Thanks.

[@kursatkorkmaz3607]

40-50 mg?? U mean 4-5 g, right?

[@myrhev]

@@kursatkorkmaz3607RDA is 2.4 g so I doubt he meant double the RDA.

[@pete49327]

Salsa is vegan and often recommended for topping veggies, etc., but most contain over 200 mg per 2 tbsp serving. The only I've found in my area that's truly low sodium is Texas Pete's Low Sodium Salsa at 45 mg per 2 tbsp serving. The drawback is that the 12 oz. jar is over $8 after sales tax, while most of the others on the shelves are about $4.

[@christieanderson1330]

You are so right. I use to put salsa on everything. After watching Dr Goldhamer I cut salt out of my diet and the bloat went away and I quit over eating. Sodium must have really lit my dopamine receptors.

[@VICTORIA-SAYERS]

I try to keep my Salt intake to 1,500 - 2,000 mg per day. If I take in more then I'll take in more Potassium from my Food. It's the Potassium from our Food that instantly keeps our Blood Pressure low and it's suppose to be a 1 to 4 ratio with 1/4 being Salt (1,500 mg) and 3/4 being from Potassium (4,000 - 6,000 mg).

[@Gjentush]

Sea salt is naturally rich in potassium. I will try using salt in it’s whole form - like sellery stalks!😃

[@ginawong1285]

OMG, thank you so much for reaching us how to read these confusing label! After watching your video, I immediately checked the soup broth label which has 40 Calories per serving but a whopping 900 mg for sodium!!!! I am throwing that soup package out!! It is so processed!!! Thank you for these wonderful live saving videos

[@TheJeffyBob]

I love listening to Rip and have his books...great stuff! I would however like to make mention of a book titled "The Salt Fix" that has an interesting perspective and has a lot of good information and data on salt that is worth considering.

[@pedrogimenez3792]

i felt better than ever when i started a low salt diet! no one said ever. Instead of focusing in salt, why don't you focus in the real problem? Sugar and lack of micronutrients such as potassium and magnesium. Salt is life.

[@Lonwolf.]

Dr. Kempler cared people with rice, white table, sugar in fruit juice. But then we have people saying sugar is bad it’s so contradictory it doesn’t make sense.

[@Gjentush]

Sugar is bad. Fruit is another thing!

[@BrooksEM]

Live streamed on my birthday. Nice present! I'm now making my way through the Engine2 cookbook. What is the link for the Holiday book?

[@deborahcaprara9993]

Excellent presentation!

[@kathleenross7676]

Brilliant! Happy Valentine's Day! Rip, you've given us much to think about re our heart health. I needed this today.

[@fruitascension5089]

Great basic video presentation on salt awareness. How it negatively affects our body, where it's hiding, and what to do about it, along with a support community.

[@LenkaSaratoga]

This was great 👍🌱 THANK YOU! Is there a link to “holiday guide”?

[@crislara5831]

As for the guy asking about hyponatremia . It's caused by to much sodium and too much fluid and then the bloating dilutes your sodium. Hope that helps .I had that happen . Now I eat very little sodium and feel amazing and drink as much water as I want

[@lahoya32]

This makes sense, yeah. But aren't you kinda worried about "flushing" out too much sodium out of your system without eating it? I know plants contain sodium but is it even enough? Wish you the best.

[@saladstrongsoprano9625]

13:00 For the Europeans: our teaspoons contain 5 grams, and in the metrical system 5 grams = 5000 milligrams (milli means thousand) So each 1 gram equals 1000 milligrams.

[@nancyneptune4400]

I am a salt addict! I really appreciate this information and I need to make some serious changes.

[@Gjentush]

I will try using salt in it’s whole form - like sellery stalks!😃

[@27pugsly]

Can always sprinkle some Mrs Dash seasoning to flavor stuff up

[@Gjentush]

I will try using salt in it’s whole form - like sellery stalks!😃

[@jimatsydney]

This is incorrect. It isn’t sodium alone that causes hypertension. It is the potassium sodium imbalance. The country with one of the highest salt intake is Japan According to World Life Expectancy’s website Japan also has the lowest death by hypertension of any country. South Korea who has a salt intake twice to three times a US diet they have the lowest death rate by heart disease.

[@niranjanpaul2176]

Oh yes. Like nicolantonio said

[@kasiamatyjaszkowicz1553]

That is very interesting. Never thought about it. Can you tell more about it ? Thank you

[@jimatsydney]

@@kasiamatyjaszkowicz1553for the average healthy person it is the diets high in potassium that are protective against hypertension. Both Japan and South Korea have diets high in vegetables (potassium) and especially fermented veggies. Potassium competes with sodium for renal receptors causing the kidneys to expell excess salt when adequate potassium is present. Inadequate salt (NaCl) is very dangerous. Best advice if you are worried about BP, buy a blood pressure monitor and keep an eye on it, eat more veggies, exercise, reduce stress, reduce BMI to reduce BP and maintain salt levels at the published RDI of 5000 g (a teaspoon) per day.

[@pedrogimenez3792]

@@kasiamatyjaszkowicz1553 if you are still interested read the book "the salt fix" by james dinicolantonio.

[@oanalesnic79]

I thought that Dr Esselstyn suggested NO SALT added at all!? I have completely cut off the salt, do not eat processed food, but I am still confused about the salt intake. Dr Max Gerson and his daughter Charlotte advised no salt added, but Dr Mcdougall says minimal salt is beneficial. Common sense tells me that we should not add anything artificial to our natural state of food. Please clarify! 🙏

[@jenniferburrows6782]

All, excellent information - thankyou - will really read labels from now on

[@DirtbagGospel]

I eat a pretty low sodium diet... I struggle with dehydration but not with hypertension, im increasing my sodium intake as an experiment

[@kaykavanagh8948]

Thank you ! Never stop learning with you 👍🙋🇨🇦Vancouver (Vegan)

[@Mandylovescatz]

Great topic and so much clarification for me on sodium and what to look for. Hey I’m wanting the holiday guide and am struggling using my iPhone to get it. I must be doing something wrong. The web page bottom has a purple “Get your guide now” box but that seems to just go to the top of the page. I’ll try from my laptop.

[@purityandplants]

What about the sodium in liquid aminos etc.? Is that included in the count?

[@Crazydoglady.]

Shredded wheat had 10 mg..MG... great healthy snack 😋

[@sallyve3263]

Hello. I’m watching from NYC. A day late though.

[@stan8926]

Lack of added and preadded salt can lead to reduced stomach acid in half. And this leads to problems. I went to WFPBSOS diet to reduce my BP from 140/90 to 105/70 and lower and stop pills. But I had constant heartburn, chest pain and throat pain without knowing the reason. I read that lack of salt can increase cholesterol and TG. My TC and LDL only decreased slightly. My TG increased a lot. So I am adding salt to my food (no processed food) and I already have improvement in my heartburn. No effect on BP yet. I had no problem ditching salt from taste perspective. No addiction problem there. How are people with no salt consumption getting Cl to produce stomach acid? I have no problem eating no salt but how to produce enough stomach acid? Where to get Cl from? And I do not use chlorinated water for cooking or drinking - I live 5 minutes from a natural mineral water well (270 mg/l total mineral content). Sodium from plant can be enough (although BP can get below 100/70 and other negative effects) but what about the Cl?

[@stevethevlogger]

Please enable captions for this vid. Thank you.

[@libbyreed8588]

You can add them. Click in the upper right hand corner. Click on CC.

[@marshaberland2248]

great explanation of the what the blood pressure numbers tell us thanks

[@Gjentush]

I will try using salt in it’s whole form - like sellery stalks!😃

[@flavouroclock]

Hi, looking for the holiday meal planner you mentioned. Thanks!

[@RLynnSchmollinger]

My kidney fun went from 14 to 18. This is a big deal.

[@brandonhvegas]

What about vegetables? 100g of celery has 16 calories and 80mg sodium. 100g of spinach has 23 calories and 70mg sodium. So the 1/1 ratio doesn’t even work with raw vegetables.

[@karendeeble121]

Great video but living in the UK the labelling is different. For example, our bread says 257 kcal per 100g and the salt is 1.0g and the stock cubes are 9kcal per 100ml with the salt 0.1 g, our boxed cooked chickpeas have 0.03g per 100g so think these have too much salt but not sure??? any help from anyone

[@pumpkinpatchwork49]

There are other vegan physicians such as Dr John McDougall who say that no salt diet is dangerous. What is your opinion on that?

[@momof4121]

Thank you so much it’s super shocking to learn how much salt is in bread!!!😮

[@Scor-ah]

Why is there so much salt in Bread? I make my own and put 1 tsp in 2 loaves, its just weird to think that their bread tastes so awful that they need to add that much salt. Hmmmmm

[@carmenmarcinkiewicz7149]

Canned food has ridiculous amounts of sodium in them.

[@michelecraig9658]

Not if you can them yourself.

[@chiefpriestmalakyaahlahada6748]

Then don't use them cook from scratch.Gtow your own food.Ot buy from a local smal farm.Buy organic non GMO foods!

[@chiefpriestmalakyaahlahada6748]

@@michelecraig9658 Facts and truth 👍🙌👏

[@suninaries571]

What about sodium in painkillers?

[@King64]

Denmark ❤

[@santachuckhudgins6835]

Greetings from 0regon

[@cindylemieux2043]

An other amazing video

[@MrAmitdaswani]

The Ezekiel low/no sodium bread has 0 flavor. I’d rather eat cardboard. But, the sesame has 80. Sadly, it doesn’t make the cut.

[@fruitascension5089]

Lol, it's definitely hard to get used to bread with no added salt. It's hard to get used to no added salt, period! But people do get through to the other side when they stick to it through the difficult adjustment period. The reason it tastes like cardboard is because we're so used to the salt. Our perspective is our reality, but perspective can change if we change it. Believe me, I totally understand where you're coming from though.

[@momof4121]

I enjoy the Ezekiel’s low sodium bread and wraps they are good I don’t need salt in my bread 🤢

[@brucemaher7621]

BBBE.Dr Ken Berry.

[@chiefpriestmalakyaahlahada6748]

Don't use salt 🧂 if you have High blood pressure.

[@olivia9066]

❤👍