'Surprise! Everything You've Been Told About Salt Is Wrong'

Eating lots of salt will not make you thirsty or cause greater urine output. A study involving Russian cosmonauts reveal eating more salt actually lowered their thirst — yet increased hunger.


As your salt intake increases, your glucocorticoid hormone level rises, causing greater water availability (hence lower thirst) and increased fat and muscle breakdown — an energy-intensive process resulting in increased hunger.


A high-salt diet will not increase your risk of heart disease. Having the correct potassium to sodium balance influences your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease to a far greater extent than high sodium alone.


As noted by Dr. Melanie Hoenig, nephrologist and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, "The work suggests that we really do not understand the effect of sodium chloride on the body."


It's pretty bizarre that our understanding about salt is this poor, yet that's what can happen when you assume the science is settled and you've got it all figured out. As reported by The New York Times.