Getting it Right: Too Much, Too Little Salt Bad For You?

Too much salt can increase cholesterol levels or blood pressure. On the other hand, consuming too little salt may also be bad for your health.

Two recent studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine examine the American Heart Association's recommended daily guidelines on salt intake from 1.5 to 2.4 grams per day. Findings revealed that those who went over that number or below it were at an increased risks for certain health issues.

"There is a sweet spot for what the optimum sodium intake is," said Salim Yusuf, senior author of the paper and director of the Population Health Research Institute in Ontario, via Bloomberg. "The message is very simple: Moderation in salt intake. Avoid high and low levels."

Yusuf observed more than 100,000 participants from 18 countries not including the United States for his research, while close to 40 percent of the participants had high blood pressure.

Study results showed that higher sodium levels were generally linked to a greater risk of high blood pressure, while the correlation was stronger in older people. Though low sodium intake was not tied to hypertension risk, those who consumed more or less than the recommended amount saw increased health risks for certain issues, including heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular issues.

The findings of the second study seemed to underscore the importance of lowering salt consumption. As 1.65 million people worldwide die each year because of too much sodium intake, about 40 percent of the deaths are in people younger than 70, according to lead study author Dariush Mozaffarian of Tufts University's school of nutrition science and policy in Boston.

In the end, health officials seemed to agree: too much sodium is dangerous. Most of the time, excessive salt can be found in packaged foods or restaurant meals. It's critical to read food labels and get an idea of just what's in a product. Is too little salt also dagnerous? It may be, but for most, it's also an unobtainable level to reach.