The Salt Fix: Why Experts Got It All Wrong - and How Eating More Might Save Your Life
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 1,974 ratings
Price: 23.54
Last update: 06-29-2024
Top reviews from the United States
Paula Marchesini, Ph.D.5.0 out of 5 stars
Best health book I ever read
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2021
This is the health book to kill all health books (and I’ve read most of them). I discovered it because of a personal incident. A few days ago I was feeling completely exhausted, as I usually do, unable to get out of bed. My husband (and guardian Angel) looked at me and said I was probably having very low blood pressure and that I should try eating some salt. Something clicked. I ate some of my high-quality salt and in a matter of 3 minutes I was out of bed and full of energy! Now, I’ve had very low blood pressure since I was a child (around 90/60) and used to faint frequently. But after I started lifting weights in my twenties, it got much much worse. Around that time, I developed hypothyroidism and started taking Levothyroxin, which never made me feel any better. My hair started falling, my muscles were always sore, I was always hungry, and—perhaps worse of all—always completely exhausted. I had to drag myself through every workout—even though I adore weights—and then could barely move the rest of the day. I had to take occasional vacations from the gym, during which I felt much better, but was sad not to workout. I knew something was wrong. I tried everything under the sun and spent thousands of dollars trying to feel better—doctors, multivitamins, supplements, exotic foods, etc. Nothing worked. Then my husband innocently tells me to have some salt and it works? It got me researching. For the past few days, even before I found this book, I’d just been shaking salt under my tongue every so often and it consistently worked to increase my energy. It really made me feel like some ancient hunger was finally satiated. The feeling is that I had been unable to really breathe until I started eating salt! Then I found this book. At the perfect moment. I couldn’t put it down. Not only did it answer all of my questions and educate me on everything I wanted to know about salt, it is also beautifully written, truly poetic, and very enjoyable. If you identify with my story, please make sure to read this book and give this doctor and author the credit he deserves for such impeccable research.
Tabatha5.0 out of 5 stars
Spot on
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
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.
(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.
Cynthia5.0 out of 5 stars
I feel like I'm in my 20s again
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
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
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