Watching Sodium

[Winona77]

One thing I have noticed about some in the paleo community is that sodium is completely ignored. What is your opinion on appropriate sodium levels, Jordan?

Many still prefer uncured bacon and some avoid salt, but I rarely see anyone concerned about sodium levels. My hardly unscientific/unqualified opinion is that, behind being obese and smoking, excess sodium is the worst thing you can do for your heart. I think a lot of people in the paleo/SS community would get a lot of mileage by watching sodium levels.

A little bit of iodine is great, but I think people start eating more eggs/red meat/dairy and go to to the doctor and see that their heart is in terrible shape and blame lack of cardio/too many eggs, when the real culprit for their higher cholesterol/blood pressure/thickened arteries is the 3000+mg salt they consume by salting the hell out of their sweet potatoes and grass-fed beef steaks.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Sodium is needed for carbohydrate and protein absorption, so my opinion on sodium is that you should probably have some, especially if you're paleo since much of the vegetable matter interferes with iodine absorption. This also makes a case for iodine-enriched sea salt if you swing that way.

Now, if you have high blood pressure, then avoiding added sodium and foods filled with lots of sodium might be smart practice, as this will likely eliminate lots of processed junk which may be part of the root cause of the blood pressure issue. The more likely culprit for high BP, outside of those with poor genetic background, is to reduce carbohydrate intake to reduce stored body water volume to a point that would likely correct for the BP issues (insulin causing aquaporin formation/upregulation and thus more water and salt retention).

I don't think salt is the boogeyman at all, but rather a corollary to a shitty diet overall.