We (ok, I) spend a lot of time decrying the evils of sugar, but sugar is not everyone's weak spot.  My wife Rebecca, if confronted with a plate of hot crispy french fries or a bowl of ice cream, would typically reach for the fries first.  Crazy, I know.

But is that really any better?  When we wince at chips and fries, it is not typically the salt that we're wincing at but the deadly mixture of fat and carbohydrates - the same as the ice cream, really.  How bad IS the salt?  Should we be concerned about it?  What's a healthy amount to eat?

It's definitely trickier to find this information in the fitness community than it is with sugar.  If we equate sugar consumption with hyperinsulinism and salt to hypertension, sugar kills far more people than salt.  But it's not really honest to lay the blame entirely at the door of one or the other - there are too many complicating factors to make a realistic cause -> effect dichotomy here.

What does it do?

The body requires some amount of sodium to function.  It maintains fluid balances, helps transmit nerve impulses, and influences muscle contraction and release.  Your kidneys are the gatekeepers, retaining sodium for when you're low and releasing excess sodium from the body via urine when you're topped up.  If you consume more salt than your kidneys can handle, then it stays in the blood and--since sodium attracts water--causes fluid retention and consequently high blood pressure.

But how bad is it, really?

Well, it ranges from pretty bad to quite bad, depending on your genes.  If you're salt sensitive (and they say about half of Americans are), your blood pressure can go up by as much as 10% after a salty meal.  Left untreated, chronic high blood pressure can lead to stroke, blindness, heart attack and kidney failure.  And for the rest of us, studies show that salt still has a measurable effect on blood pressure.

Should we be concerned about it?

You know what works great to bring your blood pressure down?  Exercise.  Not being obese (ie, not eating sugar).  Eating well.  If you're doing these things, your blood pressure should fall in line.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't keep an eye on it when you go in for your checkup - if you're eating great and exercising and your blood pressure is still higher than it should be, then your salt intake is probably the first place you'll want to look.  If you're over 50, black or have a family history of heart disease, then you should be particularly vigilant.

What's a healthy amount to eat?

The FDA recommends a daily intake of NO MORE than 2,300mg/day - roughly a teaspoon's worth.  But that's the outside level - their target is 1,400mg/day.  The average american consumes over 4,000mg/day, so you can see why they're worried.

But that average american is getting 75% of their sodium from processed foods, which tend to be extremely high in salt (have you ever looked at the ingredients for a can of cream of mushroom soup?)  So if you're following the prescription to EAT REAL FOOD, then you're hopefully not eating all that much salt anyway.

Like sugar, our addiction to salt is a learned behavior that we CAN break.  Gradually reducing the amount of salt you use will cause your taste buds to readjust and, if you were overly salt-dependent, reopen nuances of flavor that you may have lost.

How do you cut back?

If your blood pressure is worrisome, or you just suspect that you've been eating too much salt, there are some easy steps to take to cut back.

• Eat real food.  The less processed, the better.  For so many reasons.
• Cut back on condiments.  Ketchup, mustard, soy sauce and others have staggering amounts of sodium in them.
• Stop cooking with it.  Your food will taste bland at first, but then you'll readjust and stop missing it.
• Use more spices. If your tongue is busy with all those flavors, it won't be missing the salt.
• Be careful with salt substitutes - these typically work by having a little salt and some other stuff to add flavor, but the danger is that people will just use MORE substitute, winding up with the same amount of salt as before, and a bunch of other crap to boot.
• Watch what you buy.  Cured meats and brined olives contain a ton of salt.  And don't get the regular chicken stock when the low-sodium variety is right there next to it.

Rubbing it in

Salt IS associated with high blood pressure, which does cause all sorts of nasty problems.  As far as I'm aware, however, that is the only problem with it, and as such it's relatively easy to monitor.  My advice is to be aware of it, keep an eye on your blood pressure, and work on keeping your salt consumption in moderation (as with all things).