Here's what salt does to your heart and body

shake it like a salt shaker

The US Food and Drug Administration is trying to curb the excessive amounts of salt that Americans eat.

The new guidelines would encourage (not require) restaurants and manufacturers to limit the salt they add to foods. This would hopefully get Americans down from eating 3,400 milligrams per day to 2,300, which is what the National Institutes of Health recommends. That's about half a teaspoon.

So what does salt do to your body?

It's not all bad. We need some sodium and chloride (the components of table salt) to keep our bodies functioning properly.

And while scientific research has linked high sodium diets to health issues like heart disease and high blood pressure, researchers can't agree whether lowering salt intake can actually help prevent these problems.

Here's how your body uses sodium to function — and what happens when it processes all that salt you're eating.

Your body uses sodium to regulate blood flow and blood pressure.

oklahoma blood pressure doctors
Oklahoma State University medical student Matthew Else, left, checks OSU President Burns Hargis' blood pressure.
Sue Ogrocki/AP

Source: Medline Plus

Sodium also acts as a signal molecule to help your muscles and nerves function properly.

1200px Blausen_0818_Sodium PotassiumPump
The sodium-potassium pump is a critical enzyme found in all our cells. staff/Wikimedia Commons

Chloride helps the body regulate fluids, which is why when you have too much salt, your water levels can get whacky.

woman drinking water
There's got to be something wrong with her water levels.
The Hairpin

Source: Medline Plus

Eating too much salt can make you pee more, making you dehydrated and thirsty.

girl drinking water fountain
Shutterstock/D. Hammonds

When you pee more, your body can lose too much calcium, which could lead to osteoporosis.

osteoporosis strong bones workout old lady
Patti Kiernan decided it was time to find a more focused workout after her doctor said her bone density had dropped to osteoporosis levels.
Donna McWilliam/AP

Sources: Consensus Action on Salt & Health, Journal of the American College of Nutrition

Too much salt can trigger the kidneys into keeping more water in the body, which could eventually lead to kidney failure over time.

kidney failure diabetes
Paul Rooks (L), 49, his wife Ester, and their son Damon chat in their home while waiting to depart for the clinic on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to treat Rooks' kidney failure.

Sources: Blood Pressure UK, CDC

Water retention can also cause swelling of the hands, arms, and legs — a condition called edema.


People who eat too much salt also tend to get stomach ulcers, though scientists aren't sure how this could happen.

Gastric stomach Ulcer
BruceBlaus/Wikimedia Commons

Source: Gut

When more fluid courses through your veins, it can cause them to stiffen over time, leading to high blood pressure.

blood pressure pills medications
Morton Genser poses at his home in Tamarac, Fla with his prescription drugs, which include blood pressure pills.
Wilfredo Lee/AP

Sources: CDCHarvard, Cleveland Clinic

Having high blood pressure can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke — two of the leading causes of death in the US.

Health Care Assistant Sophie Dorrington talks to a patient in the stroke ward at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, eastern England November 3, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Thomson Reuters

Sources: CDCTech Insider, Harvard

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