The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life

I wish I could give this book 10 stars. This book was extremely well-cited and will give any hardcore low-sodium advocate an existential crisis. I've got a relatively long history of questioning conventional wisdom already but had never thought to question this particular little nugget of CW. MAN, was I in for the greatest recovery of my [so-far] pretty short life. I started dosing with salt 4 days before I bought this book, after watching an interview with author, Dr. James Dinicolantonio and experienced a complete turn-around and newfound state of well-being that was nothing short of miraculous. Here's my nothing-short-of-miraculous story: A few years ago I started training for a body building competition and was on a very strict chicken, vegetable, and 2 oz of sweet potato diet. About 6 months in, I started having some MAJOR gut issues and could not for the life of me figure out what the heck was going on. So I decided to go on a ketogenic diet (first started with GAPS protocol, then just straight keto), which probably wasn't a great idea because in retrospect, I think I was already low on salt and going keto dropped my electrolytes even lower. I was also going through major stress and started having random muscle twitching everywhere and TERRIBLE heart palpitations. I also started developing pain in my ligaments under normal amounts of stress, and terrible pain during periods of high stress. Sometimes pain under no stress, just pain all the time for no obvious reason. Sometimes sharp nerve pain that would jolt me awake throughout the night. These sharp jolt pains usually happened during a period of relaxation. My central nervous system was going NUTS and the palpitations were so bad that I woke up one Saturday morning and went to the ER. They did a quick EKG and told me I needed to relax, and referred me to a cardiologist. Anywho, saw cardiologist and they found nothing structurally wrong with my heart. They put me on Metroprolol temporarily to address the heart palpitations, which made them less noticeable for the 10 days I took it. After 10 days on this medication, I found I had mysteriously gained 10 pounds. WHAT!? Anyway, I talked to doc and he then informed me this was a common side effect, so I quit the Metroprolol and palpitations came back full-force. I had seen the following doctors during this time, for the stuff Ill detail below the list: GP Cardiologist Endocrinologist Gastroenterologist (multiple visits) Hematologist Rheumatologist I had chronic fatigue, but with the chronic state of pain, heart palpitations, dizzy spells, exercise intolerance, anxiety, explosive diarrhea (yeah, yeah, TMI..whatever, I like talking about my poops, had to learn a great deal about them to troubleshoot these wonderful GI issues), and overall misery, I attributed it to working a lot/stress and it was the least worrisome of my symptoms. I lost my period for a month too, and this last year my cycle has gotten 3 days shorter, AND I got pregnant and had a miscarriage (why is this relevant, you may ask? Spoiler alert: There is a great chapter on salt and fertility in "The Salt Fix") I had been having all kinds of strange hormonal issues, like hirsutism (had 3 stubborn hairs that were growing on my chin that I had to pluck every week). I'm a 28 year old female, pretty vain if I may add, so this kind of sucked. While all of this was happening, I also lost about 60% of my hair in a matter of 2 months. This is not a coincidence with the growing of the chin hairs, something with my hormones was going completely awry. There is more, but I think you get the point. Enter the interview I saw with the Doc. Decided to start dosing with salt before I even read the book (bought my kindle download 3 days after watching the interview). And OMG, my heart palpitations vanished immediately. VANISHED. I had this newfound energy to get up and do stuff again, like running?! I can't remember feeling like I wanted to run for FUN, since I was like...7? This was just 3 days of dosing. At this point, I have been dosing with salt for about two months and have noticed I don't need to take as much as I did when I started to keep the palpitations away. General anxiety has subsided and I've been feeling GREAT since I started dosing, which was an unexpected effect of this whole thing. I increased my salt intake with hopes of getting rid of the palpitations and dizziness but I got so much more. The last time I plucked those damn chin hairs was about a month and a half ago, so at this point I think they're gone-gone :) YAY My following menstruation after starting to supplement came on its old schedule (28 day cycle instead of 25 for the last year). Hooray! I'd like to keep my eggs for as long as possible :) Also, I've got so much new hair growth on my head that my hair is getting super unruly with frizz, but that's a problem I love to have now hehe. TL;DR version: Salt made my heart palpitations, dizziness, exercise intolerance, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and hirsutism go away. It normalized my menstrual cycle, and improved my bowels. If I could marry my pink salt shaker, I would. I started having all of these issues about 3-4 years ago when I was 24 years old. I literally went from feeling like I was 24 to feeling like I was 70 in a matter of 1 year. I finally feel my age again because of this tiny change. I have tried every diet under the sun, and THIS is what was missing. This may not seem miraculous, but it felt that way to me. At the rate I was going with chronic issues, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be 80 years old if I already felt like I was in my 70s at 28 years old (Turns out, a combination of low carb dieting and chronic stress are no good for ya). Anywho, great read! I am recommending this book left and right

A simple and inexpensive solution for many health issues. The author makes his case with supporting research and points out errors and inconsistencies in the mainstream narrative about salt. I found his argument convincing enough to do a trial to see how I felt. In my case the trial has been outstandingly successful. I heard the author on a podcast and listened to the audio book when it came out. Because I've found myself wanting to refer to the references in the book when in conversation with others I eventually also bought the kindle version. I'm writing this review 9 months later after my first reading so my report on my trial is after 9 months. Immediately after increasing my salt intake my resting heart rate went down about 9 points and the pounding heart symptoms which I had started to get after lowering my salt a couple of years previously went away. My blood pressure remained perfect. Also, the mucosa membrane in my nasal passages immediately got stronger. This winter, if I've felt like a sore throat is coming on I gargle with Redmond Sea Salt, massage the lymph in the throat and ear area, and take in more salt until the stinging sensation goes away. It's remarkably fast, effective, and obviously inexpensive. I've also noticed it's easier to do manual labor in the heat and not get thirsty. Additionally, water fasting is much easier with when sipping salt water mixed with an equal amount of potassium. The old traditional ideas about the benefits of salt align with my experience . This book helps the reader see how we got off track. I think he's done a great service putting this together.

This is a review of the Kindle version. I have no bias regarding the author or his subject. At first, the almost evangelistic zeal with which the author makes his case made me suspect that he may have a conflict of interest with the salt industry. I even paused to do a cursory background review to rule this out. Not only did I find no evidence of commercial sponsorship, but I was impressed that in a letter to a prominent medical journal he took on a major drug company for manipulating data on a new blood thinner. To have the time and courage to do such a thing in addition to write this book and his many articles convinced me of his sincerity and dedication. As a physician, I humbly admit that I drank the Kool-Aid of the salt-hypertension hypothesis, but the tiny magnitude of the effect had always left me suspicious. I never bothered to drill down into the evidence the way the author has, and I found it convincing. He mines data ranging from animal studies to clinical trials, but the population studies are what got to me. If, as he shows, countries that consume large amounts of salt do not have a problem with hypertension, how can it be a fundamental cause? I found the link between salt consumption, insulin and anti-inflammatory effects particularly enlightening. My only criticism is the parallel argument made throughout that salt is really a distraction from the real public health enemy, refined sugar. To exploit that logic fully, the author should have written a book about sugar instead! Perhaps he figured this has already been better covered by Gary Taubes, whom he references admiringly. He makes his points and documents his supporting evidence clearly. I find he weakens his case by making the medical establishment sound conspiratorial and using the overly dramatic term Salt Wars. Five stars for trying to help us see our crystals more clearly.

This book is very eye-opening as to the absolute necessity of having adequate salt in your diet. It is no surprise that the medical industry has it all backwards. This seems to be a common theme these days. You really need to be your own doctor and do your own research instead of depending on the "experts". My one criticism of the book is the constant evolutionary indoctrination throughout the book. If you really believe that our human ancestors evolved from the briny sea and slithered out of the sea and grew some lungs to breath air as the author contends, then you are misguided and misinformed. Reading his evolutionary explanations for things such are our builtin salt thermostat is a bit laughable. Do you know any other types of thermostats or sensors that just evolved? Well that's what our bodies are designed with: sensors to monitor blood pressure, blood volume, temperature, etc and many other complex systems. That being said this book is well worth the read. This book will also help you curb your sugar addition too.

This guy is totally correct. (Not authors opinion but mine)..low salt intake increases blood pressure. The war on salt is cryptically funded by Pharma which pedals low blood pressure drugs, which is big, big business working in conjunction with physicians. Salt intake was much higher 100 and 200 years ago (again research studies available) and low salt intake is directly related to metabolic rate dropping. People’s body weight and blood pressure were not an issue then, it’s only since the low salt scam that these issues emerged. Imagine that. Increasing salt intake increases core body temperature. Research salt soles and Himalayan salt in particular. I used this to increase salt intake safely similar to the Chinese and Japanese and watch my body temperature and insulin sensitivity rise to normal metabolic levels, not to mention perfect blood pressure readings. It’s also interesting that the Japanese and Chinese have the highest salt intakes in the world yet have the lowest body weights. What a wild scam low salt is. Reduce salt - let people get fat and their blood pressure rise - give them drugs they have to take prescribed by their MD they have to take for the rest of their life - a Pharma score for sure. That is unless you have eyes to see and can read between the lines of funded ‘studies’ vilifying salt..(end of my opinion). As for the book the author did a fantastic job of researching and bringing this to light. To the curious there are ample studies and evidence that support this stance. I disagree with how to increase sodium levels and found it must be done in ways safe and bioavailable to the body (see above). In other words table salt is tough on the body.

As a practicing physician with 40 years of front line clinical experience, I believed I was up to date on all important medical topics. I felt somewhat embarrassed after reading “The Salt Fix” because I now realize that my view of salt has been shaped by the so-called experts, the food-industrial complex and government agencies that Dr. DiNicolantonio outlines in his excellent and ground breaking book. I frequently read health books written for the public, to keep up on what my patients are reading, but I almost never learn anything new from these books. I now realize that I have now been to his wonderful “salt school” and things will never be the same for myself or my patients. The book carefully guides us through our woeful history of our modern relationship with salt. He also backs his views up with and endless string of scientific studies about the health benefits of salt to smash the unscientific views of the medical community, the consensus experts and government agencies who have been filling our heads with non-sense all these years. One of my favorite sayings is “The Experts are always wrong 100% of the time.” How can this be? After all, aren’t they the experts? Go a few decades into the future and you will see what I mean. You want to listen to “future experts”—those few individuals who have the wisdom and insight to see the future truth. Dr. DiNicolantonio is clearly a future expert. Although in the past I haven’t restricted my own salt intake or generally advised patients to do so, until now I haven’t been aggressive promoter of the benefits of salt. Starting today that will change. In my opinion Dr. DiNicolantonio’s outstanding book will revolutionize our relationship with salt and this change is clearly long overdue. My final advice? If you want to experience optimal health, you simply must read this book.

I just finished the book, The Salt Fix by James DiNicolantonio. Well worth the read. As a prevention and wellness family physician who prides himself in looking deeper at cause and effect in healthcare, I must admit that I had my blinders on when it came to salt. I too believed that salt was to be watched closely and tried to remain at the lowest recommended usage. Well, no longer! The author James DiNicolantonio makes a great case as to why limiting your salt to the national guidelines may be BAD for your health. In my practice, I have different views than mainstream medicine in many areas of health and wellness. Why? Well, I have arrived at the point in my career when I am not afraid to ask the “experts”- “WHY?”. Why is fat bad? Why is cholesterol bad? Do cholesterol lowering drugs really save lives? I like to dive deeply into cause and effect. But it appears like I did not look closely enough at how the human body uses salt. I was still advising people to watch their salt intake as I thought that the dietary recommendations were set in stone with irrefutable evidence. Well……. Let me add one more question for the “experts”. Why is consuming more than 2 grams of salt a day bad? After reading The Salt Fix, I am disappointed in myself but that changes today. The author James DiNicolantonio very simply makes the case that the war on salt is as misguided as I believe the war on cholesterol and fat has been. He points out how salt is a vital nutrient that our body needs to stay in balance, just like fat and cholesterol. He clearly and simply shows how our body responds to different levels of salt intake. He brings together many other aspects of my practice, writing about how it is not salt, but that other white processed powder, SUGAR, that is really the issue in most people with metabolic health issues. He points out how sugar can cause insulin resistance leading to Obesity, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Heart Disease, etc, etc. He then shows how too LITTLE salt also leads to insulin resistance, Obesity, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Heart Disease, etc, etc. See the twist? Besides learning about the many beneficial aspects of salt, this book should make you a more skeptical thinker when it comes to national dietary guidelines. You should ask yourself, “Is there real proof that these guidelines are good for my health AND were these guidelines based on real medical studies or are they a dietary or political/industry power play? If you are overweight, have High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, or Kidney Disease, BUY THIS BOOK and READ IT. If you like salt but are afraid to use it, BUY THIS BOOK and READ IT. Then have a conversation with your physician(s). If they just restate the National Dietary Salt guidelines without understanding the true data, lend them this book, or buy them one so they can refer to it and help more patients.

I have to say, it's very rare that reading a book pays off so quickly for me. I heard a podcast interview with the author earlier this week, and immediately bought the book. I was also on a fast at the time, and normally supplement with some salt. Even so, it's common for the first 2-3 days of a fast to be hard - I feel tired, get headaches, get really cranky. I used FAR more salt this time - I estimate more than 4tsp of pink himalayan salt straight on my tongue. No headaches, and I felt GREAT. I've since ended the fast and kept up the salt intake and I feel better than I have in ages. If you eat low carb or ketogenic, exercise alot, especially in hot weather, take in a lot of caffeine, have known low thyroid or have a hard time with chronic stress, PLEASE READ THIS BOOK and then take in FAR more salt than you might think you need. More likely than not, you will NOT push up your blood pressure and will NOT retain water. In fact, you may feel better than you have in ages. Also, for the educational value in exposing how wrong official dietary recommendations can be, this book is just as important as "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, "The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Teicholz, or "The Complete Guide to Fasting" by Dr. Jason Fung. If you read these books and act on them, you may just get your health back.

just what I wanted, the opposite view of the trad. and wonder if it becomes mainstream, sounds well founded to me, a non professional.

Having spent over 40 years reading literally hundreds of healthy-eating books due to one of my children’s serious allergies (now a healthy 41 year old!), I must be honest and say that I rarely get beyond flicking through them briefly and reading the first few pages. So many don’t live up to their publisher’s hype and tend to be just another re-hash of whatever the current diet bandwagon happens to be. Rarely do I find these books to be a real page-turner - but I was unable to put this book down! It is a readable, informative, exceptionally well-written, well-researched and eminently sensible book, written by an author who is not afraid to go out on a limb and has the courage to genuinely think for himself - instead of just slavishly following prevailing fashion. I’ve seen dozens of diet trends and myths come and go over the years and frankly always ignored the low fat/low salt advice completely, since it was invariably dished out by those same ‘experts’ who were also advising that chemically-processed, unnatural and foul-tasting industrial fats such as margarine are what we should be eating to be healthy! If that were the case - then wouldn’t Nature surely have invented them and designed our bodies to use them – instead of the many delicious-tasting, natural ones now finally being scientifically proven to be far healthier? Healthy food was meant to taste good! Sea salt and natural fats like butter add to food’s flavour and also help our bodies cells to absorb all of the nutrients it contains. Basic biology in school taught us that all life on earth evolved in the saline ocean – so naturally it’s therefore only common sense that our cells need salt to function. This book is full of common-sense that you don't have to be a scientist to understand. As the author himself puts it - “the similarity between the mineral content and concentration of our own blood and seawater has been known for decades”. As someone who has always, as far as possible, followed the way that Nature evolved us to eat, I believe that eating natural, whole, organic ‘real’ food is the only way to true, long-term health. That being so, yet another aspect of this book that I found exceptional, and for me personally most engaging, is that unlike a great many doctors, this one clearly advocates organic food. The benefits of eating organic are often either ignored altogether by the medical profession, or even more astonishingly, discounted as being quite irrelevant. That’s usually the point when I when I stop reading their books - because how can you possibly presume to tell people how they should be eating when you don’t even understand what 'real food' is, how Nature meant us to eat, and seriously believe that we actually know better? Organic food is so often ridiculed by the media (heavily influenced by the misleading PR of the agri-chemical industry) as being either an elitist, hippy-like ‘celebrity fad’ or some kind of neurotic ‘orthorexia’, and sadly many doctors seem to accept this misinformation unquestioningly! This doctor doesn’t! As a former organic farmer, now retired, who has for many years extensively researched the effects of pesticides and other chemicals, used either on or in food, I never eat anything that isn’t organic, so I found Dr DiNicolantonio’s open-minded, thoughtful approach in this book refreshing. After all – naturally-grown, whole, organic foods are quite simply what humans evolved to eat over millions of years! We did not evolve to eat food grown with the toxic cocktail of endocrine-disrupting, made-made chemicals that it has been laced with for well over 60 years now. Such chemicals were in many cases originally developed as nerve gas weapons during World War 2! Food is then later stuffed with even more synthetic chemicals by food manufacturers when processing it into high sugar, long shelf-life, ‘convenience’ foods! Convenient for high profits – but not for our health! It’s surely no coincidence that the alarming rise in so many chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes seems to directly correlate with the seriously misleading dietary advice dished out over the last 60+ years. I wish I’d had this book 4 years ago when my son and I started following strict, low-carbohydrate diets, after both having serious accidents which made it impossible for either of us to exercise for several months. I lost 2 stones almost without trying and my 6ft 4 ins son lost 4! There is excellent information in this book on the damaging effects of the many different types of sugar - and also how to deal with problems such as the muscle cramps that we both encountered initially, especially when exercising vigorously while eating a very low-carb diet. Dr DiNicolantonio explains how easy it is to avoid these - simply by eating enough salt! My son also spent several weeks recovering in an orthopaedic ward after major surgery, and was extremely shocked to see the heart-breaking number of diabetic amputees whose suffering could have been completely avoided simply by avoiding all forms of sugar, including alcohol. I would thoroughly recommend this book not just to anyone trying to cut carbohydrates but also to anyone cooking for schools and hospitals etc. or trying to generally improve public health. From my experience, most hospital diets seem mainly consist of high-carbohydrate, cheap, processed foods such as white sliced bread and high-sugar ready meals prepared in bulk by outside caterers in order to keep budgets down. Hospital shops and vending machines are also full of junk food like chocolate bars, crisps and cans of high sugar sodas. Often the only healthy item one can find is plain bottled water!. It is frustrating that condoning and encouraging patients to eat that kind of rubbish, instead of healthy real food, not only delays their healing but also does nothing to re-educate those eating habits which in many cases often caused their illness in the first place, and ultimately costs health services even more money in the long run! Thank heavens for the sake of future public health that the era of all doctors and dieticians unquestioningly accepting industry-sponsored dogma seems at last to be disappearing! Science and health knowledge can only move forward and improve if current accepted norms are constantly being questioned. This thought-provoking, ground-breaking book does it in spades. I heartily recommend 'The Salt Fix' as essential reading for anyone who wants to know the definitive truth about salt and to improve their overall health. In years to come, I believe that Dr. DiNicolantonio's brilliant book will be seen as having been a real game-changer.

This book needs to be read. I've started to enjoy salt more and more since reading it. Thank you James!

Não li completamente. Tem muita informação. Sobre história do sal e seu consumo. Saúde do coração, animal, crianças, cérebro , celular, toxicologia do sal, hormonal, esportiva, ..... Recomendo! Os antigos consumiam muito mais sal porque não existia geladeira. Carnes eram conservadas em salmoura.

Buy it and read it .. And start eat salt and keto/carnivore 10 days with high salt intake Finaly my weight dropping down