Salt, Science, and Midlife Health: What You Really Need to Know - PART 9

For decades, men in midlife have been told to fear salt. Doctors, dieticians, and government guidelines all warned that the salt shaker was the enemy, a direct line to high blood pressure and heart disease. But what if that advice missed the mark?

Here’s the truth: salt isn’t the villain. The problem isn’t the sprinkle of sea salt on your steak or veggies; it’s the ultra-processed junk foods where sodium hides alongside sugar, trans fats, and chemicals.

If you’re a man in midlife who’s been diligently cutting salt, only to feel tired, foggy, or flat in the gym, this article is for you. We’ll break down why salt is essential, how to choose the right kind, and why context matters far more than restriction. By the end, you’ll see how salt, used wisely, can actually fuel your energy, improve your workouts, and support long-term health.

By now, it’s clear that salt itself isn’t a poison; it’s an essential nutrient. But the source of your salt and the company it keeps in your diet do matter. A major reason salt has a bad rep is that most dietary sodium comes from ultra-processed foods (fast food, packaged snacks, processed meats)[1].

These foods contribute excess calories, unhealthy fats, and sugars, and are low in potassium and magnesium[1][2]. So, blaming salt alone is like blaming the smoke rather than the fire. The context in which most people consume salt (i.e., with a burger, fries, and a soda) is problematic.

For men aiming to be healthy, the goal should be: get your salt from whole, natural foods or add it to those foods in your kitchen, not from processed junk.

Here’s how to approach salt in a health-conscious way:

1. Use Mineral-Rich Salt Options:

Not all salt is created equal. Regular table salt is pure sodium chloride with some iodine added (iodine is important, but you can get it from seafood or dairy, too).

Table salt often has anti-caking agents but no other minerals. Sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, Celtic salt, and other unrefined salts contain small amounts of trace minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium, and others. The differences are not huge in terms of macrominerals (you won't get your 400 mg of magnesium from salt, for example), but they do offer a more balanced profile, and some people find that they feel better using them.

For instance, Himalayan salt is slightly lower in sodium per teaspoon (since the crystals are larger and contain other minerals), and it provides a prettier pink hue due to its iron content. Sea salts can have different flavours and textures that may enhance your enjoyment of food, encouraging you to season healthy meals well (making you less likely to reach for processed sauces).

The key is not that these salts are “magic” or drastically different nutritionally, but rather that they lack the chemical aftertaste of commercial table salt and align with a natural foods philosophy. One thing to keep in mind: if you switch entirely to non-iodised gourmet salts, ensure you’re getting iodine from other sources (iodised salt was a major solution to goitre in the past). You can incorporate kelp/seaweed or take a kelp granule seasoning to cover that base if needed.

2. Add Salt to Food, Not Food from Salt:

In other words, cook with salt and season your fresh foods liberally, but be cautious of foods that are inherently high in salt due to processing. For example, adding salt to a fresh steak or grilled vegetables is totally fine (and makes them delicious). However, items like deli ham, bacon, canned soups, frozen dinners, and potato chips often carry a significant amount of unhealthy baggage due to their high salt content. They often contain refined carbs, unhealthy fats, preservatives, and other additives, in addition to high sodium levels.

Your body handles salt much better when it’s accompanied by potassium (like a salted avocado) than when it’s accompanied by refined starch and trans fats (like salted chips). So shift your sodium sources: use a pinch of salt in your home cooking, squeeze lemon and salt on a salad, sprinkle salt on fresh tomato slices with olive oil. These are pleasurable and healthy ways to enjoy salt.

If you currently get most of your sodium from packaged sauces or takeout, try replicating flavours at home with quality salt and spices. You’ll likely end up with lower overall sodium (because home cooking tends to be less salt-heavy than fast food) and far better nutrition. Plus, when you salt food yourself, you listen to your body’s taste cues, and you’ll salt to taste, which usually falls within a reasonable range. When salt is hidden in processed foods, you consume it almost unconsciously.

3. Balance Sodium with Other Electrolyte Sources in Meals:

We’ve said it often: always think sodium, potassium, and magnesium. In practical terms, that might mean: include a fruit or vegetable every time you have a salty food. Love salted nuts? Great, also have a piece of fruit or some carrot sticks (they add potassium to help balance).

Having eggs with salt? Throw in some spinach or avocado on the side.

Having a salty broth or soup? Load it with veggies or beans.

Enjoying a steak that’s nicely salted? Pair it with a big salad or a baked potato.

This way, you naturally accompany sodium with potassium and magnesium-rich foods, mimicking the natural balance found in more traditional diets. A Mediterranean meal, for instance, might include salty feta cheese and olives (sodium) but also plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, greens (potassium), and olive oil (which helps with the absorption of minerals), striking a beautiful balance.

4. Mind the Ultra-Processed Foods:

I can’t emphasise this enough: the real villain in the modern diet is not the salt shaker, it’s the ultra-processed food that dominates many people’s intake [3].

These foods (think: chips, crackers, fast food burgers, processed cheeses, instant noodles, canned ravioli, etc.) often contain 50–75% of the sodium in an average person’s diet [1].

They are engineered to be craveable and encourage overeating, delivering a high amount of sodium without the counterbalancing effects of potassium/magnesium. They also often contain ingredients that directly harm cardiovascular health (like high fructose corn syrup, which can drive up blood pressure by causing insulin resistance and uric acid production, or trans fats that damage arteries). So, in truth, when doctors saw that high-salt diets correlated with high blood pressure, they may have been observing a marker for processed food intake.

It’s not the salt on your home-cooked meal that’s doing it; it’s the overall pattern of too many packaged foods. Therefore, a crucial part of “don’t fear salt” is not “go eat lots of junk food because salt is fine," rather, it’s “get your salt from the right places.”

I still advise cutting down on sodium-rich junk foods, but not because the salt alone is toxic; it’s because those foods are unhealthy in totality. Replace them with whole foods that you season yourself. For example, instead of a sodium-laden canned soup, make a quick soup at home with real broth and season it to taste; you’ll get less sodium than the canned version and a far more nourishing meal (and you can add spinach or beans for potassium).

5. Stay Hydrated (Water + Electrolytes):

Proper hydration isn’t just water; it’s water + salt (and other electrolytes). One practice I personally follow is adding a pinch of a balanced electrolyte mix to all my drinking water. For instance, I use Ancient Lakes Essential Electrolytes, a blend that provides not just sodium chloride, but also magnesium, potassium, and trace minerals, in my water bottle throughout the day. This effectively turns plain water into a replenishing drink similar to natural mineral spring water. It helps keep my electrolytes steady, particularly on days when I work out or when it’s hot outside.

Why do this? Many of us chug filtered or bottled water, which has no minerals, and if you drink a lot without electrolytes, you can dilute the sodium in your body (leading to frequent urination and an “unquenched” thirst feeling). By adding a small amount of an electrolyte supplement or a homemade mix (such as 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt, a squeeze of lemon, and a tiny bit of potassium chloride salt substitute) to your water, you can improve your hydration.

I’ve found that this practice prevents the mid-day energy slumps and keeps headaches at bay. It’s a hack that a lot of nutrition coaches suggest for people who feel tired despite “drinking lots of water.”

Consider this, especially if you’re active or practice intermittent fasting. Just a little bit of electrolyte can make your water work harder for you.

6. Taste and Satisfaction, The Salt/Sugar Cravings Connection:

Interesting fact: Getting enough salt can help curb sugar cravings. The brain’s reward pathways for salt and sweet are somewhat intertwined [4].

If you deprive yourself of salt, you may find yourself seeking sweets more (your body knows it needs something). Conversely, when your sodium needs are met, those intense urges for cookies or chocolate might diminish. People often report that once they start adding salt to their healthy meals to a satisfying level, they don’t feel the need to snack on junk food as much. In my practice, I encourage clients not to eat their steamed veggies blandly, but to put some grass-fed butter and salt on them. Suddenly, that healthy food becomes more palatable, and you feel satiated. You’re then less likely to rummage for a dessert later.

So, salt can be an ally in sticking to a nutritious diet by making that diet enjoyable. A meal that tastes great (thanks to adequate seasoning) can prevent the feeling of “I’m depriving myself,” which often leads to binges. So sprinkle that salt and savour your food, it’s a win-win for compliance and pleasure.

7. Monitoring and Moderation (Personalise It):

While we advocate not fearing salt, we’re not saying to go to extremes in the other direction either. Use your body as a guide. If you start adding more salt and notice you feel bloated or your blood pressure readings creep up, then adjust accordingly.

There is an individual sweet spot. The goal is to find your optimal intake, where you feel good, perform well, and your blood markers are in range. For many, that’s higher than the generic recommendation, but for a few it might not be.

For example, some people with certain genetic variants truly do have to watch salt a bit (they know who they are, often with a strong family history of hypertension). These individuals can still benefit from focusing on potassium/magnesium to raise their threshold for salt tolerance, but they might target, for example, 2.5–3 g of sodium per day instead of 4–5 g. That’s fine, it’s about individualisation.

The beauty of loosening up the salt restriction is that you can experiment and see: maybe you feel worlds better going from 1.5 g to 3 g sodium, with no BP change. Or maybe at 5 g you feel a bit puffy, so you scale back to 4. There’s room to tweak. As long as you’re eating real foods and getting your other electrolytes, a little trial and error won’t hurt. Measure your BP at home if you’re concerned.

Many find that any slight increases in BP from more salt are offset by improvements from better diet quality and lower stress when they stop obsessing over every grain of salt.

In my case, embracing salt (in the right way) has been transformative. I sprinkle a high-quality sea salt on almost everything I cook, from eggs in the morning to salads (yes, a pinch of salt makes raw veggies really pop), to steaks or roasted vegetables at dinner. I also ensure I have electrolyte-enriched water by using my Ancient Lakes mix. The difference is night and day: no more mid-afternoon slump, no more post-workout headaches, and overall improved energy and mood.

Many of my male clients in midlife report things like, “My workouts are stronger now that I’m not skimping on salt,” or “I didn’t realise how much my low-salt diet was draining me until I added it back – I feel more alive.” These subjective wins are backed by the science we’ve discussed.

Conclusion: Shaking Off the Salt Myth, Empowering Men to Salt Smartly and Fearlessly

It’s time to rehabilitate salt’s image.

As we’ve seen, the demonisation of salt was built on half-truths and outdated science, and maintaining a fear of salt can actually do more harm than good. For men in midlife, and really, for everyone, the focus should shift from “How do I eat the least salt possible?” to “How do I eat a balanced, whole-food diet that provides the right amount of salt alongside other crucial minerals?”.

In other words, salt is not the villain; poor diet is.

Let’s recap the key takeaways, driving home why you shouldn’t fear salt and what to do instead:

1. Mainstream guidelines made salt a scapegoat for heart disease, but history and modern research reveal that this was an oversimplification. The initial evidence was shaky, and new large-scale studies show no clear benefit to extreme salt reduction on actual health outcomes[5][6].

   In fact, moderate salt intake is associated with a longer life and lower mortality globally [7][8]. The blanket “salt = hypertension” message overlooks individual variability; many people can consume salt in their diet with minimal change in blood pressure.

2. Too little salt can be dangerous. Low-sodium diets can trigger hormonal imbalances (RAAS activation, stress hormones) that might increase heart strain and worsen metabolic health[9][10].

   Symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, muscle cramps, and brain fog are common when men go too low on salt[11][12]. These are warning signs that your body is craving more sodium. Don’t ignore them in pursuit of outdated dietary dogma.

3. RDA recommendations for sodium (e.g. <2.3 g) are not one-size-fits-all, and focusing on that number in isolation is misleading. Yes, an American eating 3.6 g of sodium mostly from junk food is in a bad spot, but not just because of sodium. It’s because of the junk. Meanwhile, a health-conscious man eating 3.6 g of sodium from home-cooked meals with plenty of veggies is likely in a great spot. Emphasise balance: plenty of potassium (4-5 g) and magnesium (~400 mg) daily will “cover” a moderate sodium intake and keep your blood pressure in check[13].

   The worst thing you can do is follow a low-sodium diet that is also low in potassium/magnesium (sadly, that describes many fad weight-loss diets), which is a double mineral deficiency scenario.

4. Men shouldn’t feel guilty about salting their food to taste, especially if that helps them eat healthier food and avoid drive-thru meals. Conventional advice painted the salt shaker as the enemy on the dinner table. In reality, if you remove the salt shaker, you might end up with bland food and a temptation to add sugar, or you simply enjoy your meals less and feel unsatisfied. Life is too short, and diets too hard to stick to, to eat flavourless food.

   Season your grilled vegetables, meats, and homemade soups. Enjoy the fullness of those flavours and know that your body needs sodium just as it needs water.

5. The real “villain” is refined carbs and ultra-processed foods, not the salt itself in them. Sugary drinks, doughnuts, fries, and pizza contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation, which drive blood pressure up more than salt does.

   In fact, high insulin levels from excess sugar cause the kidneys to retain more sodium![14] So sugar can indirectly worsen salt-sensitive hypertension. If you reduce sugar and refined carbs, your insulin goes down, you excrete more sodium naturally, and blood pressure often improves, even if you didn’t change your salt intake. This is why many men find that on a low-carb (higher salt) diet, their blood pressure actually drops. They cut the sugar, keep the salt, and come out healthier for it.

6. Who should be careful with salt? There are some, like individuals with advanced kidney disease, certain heart failure patients, or truly salt-sensitive hypertensives. But even in those cases, the solution isn’t to “fear” salt; it’s to manage intake smartly while aggressively addressing other factors (e.g. those with salt-sensitive blood pressure almost always benefit from losing weight, exercising, and boosting potassium, which then often allows a bit more dietary salt without issue).

   If you have a medical condition, tailor the advice accordingly in consultation with your provider. For the majority of generally healthy midlife men, though, there is no need to be on a joyless low-salt diet.

7. Embrace a functional medicine approach: Think of your body as an interconnected system. If you have high blood pressure, don’t reflexively blame salt; consider if you’re low in magnesium, if you’re stressed, or if your diet is causing insulin spikes. Often, simply addressing those underlying issues will bring your blood pressure to normal without the need for overly restricting salt.

   Many functional medicine practitioners have helped patients normalise their blood pressure by recommending things like magnesium supplements, higher potassium foods, stress reduction techniques, and, yes, sometimes increasing salt for those who were too low (especially in low-carb diets), all while reducing their intake of processed foods. The results speak for themselves; patients feel more energetic, and their cardiovascular markers improve because the root causes are being treated.

8. Salt can be part of the solution, not just a problem: For active men, a bit more salt can improve workout performance and recovery (no more dragging through that 5 pm gym session). For those trying to lose weight, getting enough salt can stave off feelings of deprivation and keep cravings at bay, making it easier to stick to a healthy eating plan. For mental clarity and mood, maintaining proper sodium levels is crucial. Some folks find that increasing salt intake alleviates chronic mild headaches and brain fog that they had wrongly attributed to other things. It’s incredible how many aspects of health are tied to electrolytes. By correcting sodium levels along with potassium/magnesium, you may unlock better sleep (with fewer evening muscle cramps), steadier energy, and even improved mood stability.

In my personal routine and coaching practice, salt has shifted from foe to friend. I start my day with a tall glass of water with a pinch of electrolytes, ensuring I’m hydrated and my body is primed. With every meal I eat, I season generously with high-quality salt, knowing that not only does it enhance the food's taste, but it also provides my body with what it needs to function properly. I no longer experience the afternoon slump or post-exercise malaise that I used to have when I was skimping on sodium.

My clients, guys who are CEOs, busy dads, weekend warriors, often come back and say, “Wow, I added some salt back in and I feel less tired and more pumped up during the day!” It’s as if a fog lifts.

Conventional health recommendations have been the “villain” of this story, scaring men away from a natural, necessary nutrient and making them think they’re one salty meal away from a heart attack. We’ve now exposed that villain as a bit of a fraud 😉.

The true path to heart health isn’t paved with bland, salt-free meals; it’s built on wholesome foods, enjoyed with natural seasonings (salt included), and a lifestyle that addresses all facets of health (nutrition, exercise, stress, sleep). Men should feel empowered to take a nuanced approach: don’t fear the salt shaker, fear the doughnut and the couch. Use salt smartly as part of a nutrient-dense diet, and your heart and taste buds will thank you.

So go ahead: shake off the salt myth and reclaim this vital element in your diet. Enjoy that sprinkle of sea salt on your roasted potatoes (with some rosemary for good measure). Savour a pinch of flaky salt on a square of dark chocolate (yes, that’s delightful!). Drink water that actually replenishes you by adding electrolytes. Your body is wired to seek salt for a reason, and now you understand that reason. Trust your physiology and the updated science, not the antiquated scare stories.

In doing so, you’ll join the ranks of informed individuals who no longer vilify salt but use it wisely for health and flavour.

Here’s to well-seasoned food and well-balanced living, cheers (with a glass of salted lemon water) to your health! 🧂🎉