Water with salt: Is it healthy?

Drinking water with salt every day is said to help balance electrolytes or promote digestion. Find out how healthy this trend really is here.

A trend has spread on social media to start the morning by drinking a glass of salt water. While it always seemed healthier to eat as little salt as possible, the pendulum now seems to have completely swung around: some health and fitness influencers are now deliberately drinking water with salt every day. This is primarily intended to help replenish sodium levels, but also to have other health benefits. But which is right? Are we consuming too little or too much salt?

Water with salt: Useful for sodium deficiency

The mineral sodium actually plays an important role in supplying the body with fluids. Among other things, sodium ensures that water gets into the body’s cells. When we sweat a lot, we lose this vital electrolyte. On particularly warm days or when we do a lot of sport, it can happen that we have too little sodium in our bodies.

To counteract this, according to Loma Linda University (LLU), it’s a good idea to drink water with a little salt. However, you should only use a pinch of salt so that you hardly taste it at all.

Especially in areas where temperatures and humidity are high, it can actually be a good idea to drink some water with salt every day. It is also advisable to consume a little more salt if you have certain illnesses that cause you to lose sodium (for example, vomiting or diarrhea).

Water with salt: These are the disadvantages

Drinking water with salt only makes sense if there is a reasonable suspicion of a sodium deficiency. In this case, the drink can help you to better hydrate your body. All other health benefits that salt water is supposed to have according to social media have not been proven. For example, there is no evidence that water with salt can improve digestion, help with weight loss or remove toxins from the body.

The trend can also have negative consequences. This happens when you consume too much salt throughout the day. According to the DGE, you should consume around six grams of salt every day. This corresponds to around one teaspoon. If you stir a teaspoon of salt into your water in the morning, the risk of consuming too much sodium in the long term increases.

Long-term, excessive sodium and salt consumption leads to an increase in blood pressure, according to the DGE. High blood pressure, in turn, promotes cardiovascular disease. This applies to every type of salt, whether it is Himalayan salt, sea salt or fleur de sel. All of these types of salt basically consist of sodium chloride.

Drinking sea water: How harmful is it?

Drinking sea water can be harmful to our health because it has a particularly high salt content. This means that it dehydrates the body instead of hydrating it, because when the sea water reaches the body’s cells, it draws fluids from them.

The human body, in turn, needs more water to excrete the excess salt through the kidneys than is available in seawater. This puts a heavy strain on the kidneys and can lead to kidney failure, while the disturbed electrolyte balance can cause other health problems.

However, this mainly occurs if you consciously drink a lot of sea water. If you occasionally swallow a small amount of water while swimming in the ocean, you generally don’t have to worry. However, it can be a good idea to drink drinking water immediately after swimming and to drink enough, especially in summer.

Conclusion: Does water with salt make sense?

For most people, there is no reason to drink water with salt. We already consume enough salt and sodium through our diet. If you eat a lot of snacks and processed foods, you are more likely to consume too much salt. In this case, a low-sodium diet would be appropriate.

If you do a lot of sport (especially in hot weather), you sweat a lot during or at other times, or you generally eat a low-salt diet, then it can be a good idea to drink water with a little salt. But only use a pinch of salt.

Tip: Instead of salt water, you can also make your own electrolyte drinks in other ways and supply your body with valuable minerals.

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