Why Salt Isn't Bad For You

For whatever reason, salt has become a "naughty word" in the realm of nutrition. I'm not really sure why; we actually need to get it from our diets, and it is incredibly important in bodily function and homeostasis.

The reason why salt is so incredible important for you, especially as athletes, is because we lose it so easily through exercise. Ever taste your sweat? It's pretty salty isn't it? That's because salt escapes your body through sweat. You also lose sodium through visiting the bathroom too. 

The key to understand here is this: water follows salt. I've talked before about the importance of hydration in athletes. I don't need to tell you that people get thirsty after eating salty snacks. The reason is because water follows salt. Now, let's walk through it. You exercise a lot. You lose a lot of water through sweat, you also are losing salt too. What does all this lead to? Dehydration. How do you reverse it? Obviously hydrate, but now you understand that salt is essential as well to help hold on to that water.

Muscle cramps are associated with lack of salt and potassium in the body, which can be lost during intense exercise. If you are working out for over 1 hour, it is important to replenish salt after. This can be accomplished a number of ways. Drink a gatorade, there's salt in there. Eat a salty snack after exercise like pretzels or beef jerky. Add table salt or sea salt to your meal. For those of you doing long marathon style training, I've heard you can carry around soy sauce packets (like you get from chinese to-go restaurants) and just pop one of those when feeling exhausted.

Just remember, hydration is what we are trying to accomplish. Having salt in our diet helps accomplish that fluid status. I'm not endorsing a high sodium diet by any means, I just don't want athletes to be scared of salt when a lot of media sources portray it as an enemy. The only reason to avoid salt in general is if you have heart complications or hypertension. When it comes down to those two health concerns, exercise is your greatest medicine anyway.