Warning: Lack Of Salt Hazardous To Your Health
Audrey Baker became light-headed. Her heart raced, her chest pounded. She called 911 and was rushed to an emergency room. The problem: hyponatremia, a more-common-than-you-might-think condition in which the blood level of salt (sodium) in your body becomes abnormally low. "That's when I realized my body does need salt," says Baker. A May 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) confirmed that cutting back on salt can indeed be hazardous to your health. More specifically, the study found that even modest reductions in salt intake are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death.