Interesting Salt Experiences

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
I know Ray has talked about salt quite a lot but it’s one of those things I hadn’t paid much attention to. I had no fear of sea salt instilled thankfully and would always salt food as I liked, making sure to get around the RDA and hadn't seen any reason to go higher.

Yesterday when salting dinner I suddenly had the urge to add more than usual, I’m not sure where this came from but have been drinking a lot of liquid recently and subsequently peeing a lot. Well, shortly after finishing my dinner the relaxation was overwhelming, the sleepy sedating anti-stress effect was profound.

I then remembered other times I had a similar relaxing effect from salt. The first was when trying a teaspoon of ‘sole’ salt solution in a glass of water first thing in the morning, often recommended by those Himalayan salt websites I’m sure some of you are familiar with. It had a fascinating balancing and energising effect almost instantly and also had a milky taste. Another time I had drunk plenty of water after having taken LSD, when the water abruptly stopped tasting refreshing to the point of aversion I had the thought to add some salt, which noticeably relaxed my body again very soon after drinking.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here so these observations are nothing new but thought I’d share. I love how instead of just doing something because Ray talks about it, it seems to intuitively happen when the time is right then you realise ‘Ray was right again’... another one of those Peat Satori moments. :)

If you had any similar or different salt experiences feel free to share them…
 
Last edited:

VitoScaletta

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2022
Messages
398
Location
Palestine
If you eat a lot of salt every single day it's important to also get adequate Potassium some days, or you'll get oxidative stress apparently
 
OP
Samya

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
Thanks for the heads up. I think I get around 5-10g of potassium most days. I'm not going to start taking huge amounts of salt but will definitely be keeping it in mind more often.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
I even find the anti-stress effect to be so strong that I avoid it at certain times. Salt in the morning is great for me, but later in the day it can make me slow down too much. That too has its benefits right before bedtime.
 
OP
Samya

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
I think all the times where I noticed the relaxing effect of salt I must have been quite deficient as it hasn't happened since. I suppose to notice an anti stress effect you have to be stressed first.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
That makes sense to me. So not the super sedated state for you when you eat when feeling normal. Interesting
 
OP
Samya

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
It could also be due to dosage. I usually just salt food to taste and add a pinch to coffee. I added a couple of extra pinches to my coffee this afternoon and each sip was noticeably relaxing.

What I find interesting is how rapid the sensation is when it does happen, perhaps as sodium is an electrolyte in every cell of the body.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
I too have the immediate effects. Right when it’s on my tongue, the relaxation hits. I will try small salty snacks because that usually causes less sedation than salty meals. Maybe because of insulin making me retain salt.
 
OP
Samya

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
It's also strange how there's not much information out there on this effect. There's an animal study showing elevated sodium inhibited stress hormones but I thought there would also be more reports around. I've really only seen Ray and DiNicolantonio talk about it.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
It's also strange how there's not much information out there on this effect. There's an animal study showing elevated sodium inhibited stress hormones but I thought there would also be more reports around. I've really only seen Ray and DiNicolantonio talk about it.
True. Stan Efferding, a bodybuilder and powerlifter, mentions it from time to time. Although he refers to DiNicolantonio as his source so it doesn’t really count. Other bodybuilders use salt to increase blood volume and the pump which I find useless because it turns off any sympathetic drive I have.

I too wished there was more info available because I have stressed friends who are on beta-blockers but avoid salt.
 

ThinPicking

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Messages
1,380
Great thread with some fascinating comments. Cohesive information on this is a bit scant, maybe we could figure it out.

In my experience salt certainly has an almost drug like effect on cognition and perception. Whether it's a stimulant or depressant for me seems to depend on existing body water content and/or fluid consumed at or around the time. I also notice effects almost instantly, I suspect from changing electrical impedance.

I've avoided salting fluids for some bad experiences in the past but recently started doing it again at a much lower concentration. I'll try to describe the effects at some point.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
I just thought to myself that I am too strict with salt and that I likely have such adverse reactions to salt because I avoid it and aldosterone might be high. Nobody else has to think about it so much and I think of myself as healthy. Other guys get so much per day and report no issues

I just pushed through and ate around 7 grams, pushed through the sedation and feel okay right now. Definitely better than before. Maybe I will stick to that and maybe you will find my experience useful.

I was inspired by this article from Hans Amto, MenElite
Maximize dopamine and live life on cloud nine with laser focus, drive, ambition, euphoria & great energy » MENELITE

The 5th „low hanging fruit“ for increasing dopamine is to eat salt. Explanation is that the kidneys produce more of a certain enzyme when they get salt. This then increases dopamine which in turn increases salt excretion. I will report whether I get an increase in dopamine or not
13E75802-1BF7-4CCD-ADF4-7531E19D46B2.jpeg
 

Gânico

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2021
Messages
286
Extra salt is very good to raise metabolism, in my experience the only short term negative aspect of it was the bloating.
 
M

member 14952

Guest
I just thought to myself that I am too strict with salt and that I likely have such adverse reactions to salt because I avoid it and aldosterone might be high. Nobody else has to think about it so much and I think of myself as healthy. Other guys get so much per day and report no issues

I just pushed through and ate around 7 grams, pushed through the sedation and feel okay right now. Definitely better than before. Maybe I will stick to that and maybe you will find my experience useful.

I was inspired by this article from Hans Amto, MenElite
Maximize dopamine and live life on cloud nine with laser focus, drive, ambition, euphoria & great energy » MENELITE

The 5th „low hanging fruit“ for increasing dopamine is to eat salt. Explanation is that the kidneys produce more of a certain enzyme when they get salt. This then increases dopamine which in turn increases salt excretion. I will report whether I get an increase in dopamine or not
View attachment 36594
Yes, that worked. Perceived bloodflow through extremities got better, mood is better, thoughts are quicker and digestion is smoother.

The sedation may have been more of a bloodsugar/insulin-resistance issue which I take care of by always having something sweet to eat when blood sugar drops. Also some niacinamide.

Salt helped me ?
 
OP
Samya

Samya

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
187
Great thread with some fascinating comments. Cohesive information on this is a bit scant, maybe we could figure it out.

In my experience salt certainly has an almost drug like effect on cognition and perception. Whether it's a stimulant or depressant for me seems to depend on existing body water content and/or fluid consumed at or around the time. I also notice effects almost instantly, I suspect from changing electrical impedance.

I've avoided salting fluids for some bad experiences in the past but recently started doing it again at a much lower concentration. I'll try to describe the effects at some point.

Would you mind elaborating on your previous experience with salting fluids?

I presume at isotonic level or lower it should be OK but curious what concentration you were using.
 

artist

Member
Joined
May 31, 2015
Messages
420
Salt is one of the most underrated things ever. Doesn’t work for everyone’s issues but if you’re one of the people who really needs it in big quantities it’s one of those things that’d be worth paying $$$ for but it’s practically free.
 

Dr. B

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
4,312
If you eat a lot of salt every single day it's important to also get adequate Potassium some days, or you'll get oxidative stress apparently
Does potassium need to he a certain ratio?
This is one of those things the mainstram hates on, if you go to the supplements or fitness subreddits they think salt should be kept as low as possible. They have all kinds of studies showing our healthiest ancestors ate like a 1:20’ratio of sodium:potassium.

But in dannys video him, haidut and Ray talked about some healthy mongolian cultures who ate lots of dairy and ate like 20g salt daily. How were they tolerating so much salt? And the thing is if you look into it, natural foods dont really contain much salt, look at beef or milk or any fruit juice, there’s usually 10x as much potassium as sodium. So the claims on those fitness sites at first glance seem accurate. Maybe the toxic effects of salt are simply from the modern iodized salts or processed table salts. Im guessing all those studies saying salt is toxic maybe only used table salt and iodized salt. Does white table sugar have the same issues present, should it be avoided in general
@Hans
 

jet9

Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
607
Great thread with some fascinating comments. Cohesive information on this is a bit scant, maybe we could figure it out.

In my experience salt certainly has an almost drug like effect on cognition and perception. Whether it's a stimulant or depressant for me seems to depend on existing body water content and/or fluid consumed at or around the time. I also notice effects almost instantly, I suspect from changing electrical impedance.

I've avoided salting fluids for some bad experiences in the past but recently started doing it again at a much lower concentration. I'll try to describe the effects at some point.
Could you describe the effects?
 

PeatBull

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
188
I ve been adding some seasalt in my water when i workout, and my skin feels much smoother. There is something to it for sure, i will keep experimenting, lets see how it goes.
 

frankmp0

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2023
Messages
139
Location
Chicago
It's also strange how there's not much information out there on this effect. There's an animal study showing elevated sodium inhibited stress hormones but I thought there would also be more reports around. I've really only seen Ray and DiNicolantonio talk about it.
I think it has a lot to do with chloride, sodium is the main excitatory ion for neurons and chloride is the main inhibitory ion.
 

Similar threads

P
Replies
41
Views
5K
Peatness
P
M
Replies
31
Views
3K
Back
Top Bottom