These are the thoughts:
Here is the idea:
What’s been done already?
In 1972 a letter was written to the JAMA Dermatology by Dr Richard Lennihan describing his observations that teenagers spending time in salt water had better skin than their counterparts who did not play in salt water. Dr Lennihan also gives his recipe for a salt-based aftershave solution that I reckon is better and cheaper than anything you could buy at the pharmacy.
What about the studies that say that salty foods increase acne?
This study found that those individuals who ate the most salt in their food had higher rates of acne. This doesn’t suggest that salt intake itself is bad – but perhaps identifies foods that should be avoided. In this study, examples of salty foods were not given but I expect that the foods included on the salty list resembled those on the spicy list; spicy potato chips, spicy corn snacks and hot sauce. What would be interesting to see is the composition of each individual’s diet with respect to the intake of processed food. Despite this, the conclusion of the study was that people who suffer from acne should just decrease their intake of NaCl – while I expect it is probably better to avoid foods that are high in salt, especially those ‘processed’ foods that rely on salt levels to preserve them.
So what’s the conclusion?
The PURE study suggested that if you have healthy physiology and kidneys, upping your salt intake won’t have worse effects than having super low salt intakes. In their population studied, 3-5 grams was the optimal amount, however, this doesn’t cater for endurance athletes or people who lose lots of salt in their sweat.
