The Best Salt According to Science (NOT what you think!)

Please NOTE: If you have kidney issues or take medication that can affect your potassium levels (e.g. beta-blockers), potassium salt may not be right for you, please talk to your doctor before introducing it.

As a Renal RD, I'd recommend adding a disclaimer that this would NOT be appropriate for anyone with late stage kidney disease (mainly ESRD). Aside from that, great info, I've always recommended this for otherwise healthy pts.

Mama’s boy here, too. Starting caring for her 20 years ago. She turned 102 a couple of months ago. She had had a heart attack when I started caring for her. Offered her choices from my now 47 year vegan diet. After a year she no longer desired any meat and a few years later stopped all fish after reducing over time. “I just don’t like them anymore.” So take note, you are now in it for the long run. Looking forward to more sodium analysis. Mom does run slightly low in her bloodwork. I give her coconut water to help with that.

I am 39 and I had hypertension for the last 5 or 6 years. In the last three weeks I decreased my salt intake by almost half and since then my BP is completely normal and I am off my medication.

Potassium chloride is what I use to ferment my own kimchi, sauerkraut, dill pickles, hot chili salt, pickled okra, and corn relish. It works perfectly and tastes exactly like salt. So my family and I eat delicious home-fermented foods without any increase in our sodium levels.

After a major heart attack six years ago I suffer from a level of heart failure. My heart was already enlarged after going through three massive rounds of chemo and more chemo in preparation of a bone marrow transplant. My BNP was over 700 after the heart attack. I gave up salt and don't eat processed or restaurant food. My BNP is now 253 after giving up the salt. My natural sodium intake is between 200 mg and 300 mg a day for the last six years. My latest echo showed my enlarged heart is now normal sized with the only lingering problem is a slight thickening of the left side wall. My doctor is amazed.

This doesn't necessarily mean sodium is bad, it may mean you need a better balance between sodium and potassium, both essential nutrients.

Impressive results! as a registered dietitian I often discuss salt intake with my cvd-patients and recommend a brand of mineral salt we have here in Sweden where they've replaced 50% of the sodium with potassium and magnesium. It's such an easy change for many of my patients. now I have some good statistics of the benefits to present as well! I can recommend the alternativets with magnesium since it too can help improve heart pressure. thank you!

Essentially nailed it! The only issue is that many people find pure potassium chloride, doesn’t taste favorable, metallic aftertaste for many. The 50-50 versions like Morton Lite Salt work phenomenally well for taste and effect and we use it in our house… and, just like you, I have made sure it’s what’s available in my mothers home 👍🏽 #FellowMamasBoyDoc

I have hypertension and years ago before being diagnosed I tried potassium chloride. There’s definitely a different taste. I’ve never been much for adding salt to food once it’s cooked, but cooking with salt is a must, it’s the best flavor modifier known. I do appreciate the information provided by the study, using a combination of potassium and sodium is something I’m going to try

There’s a brand called NoSalt that’s pretty easy to find at my local grocery stores. My mom would always buy it when I was a kid and I thought it was a weird health thing. Turns out it was a smarter choice than I thought

I watched this video a couple weeks ago and have been trying since then a mixed Na/K salt, so I came back to provide a feedback! I found the downside to it (there had to be one!). It's taste. It's a little bitter compared to normal salt, so this might be a problem to those more demanding taste buds! Not a huge deal, but there's an aftertaste. Obrigado por mais um excelente video, Gil!

It would be awesome to see a video on histamine intolerance issues with diet and what literature exist out there about managing/fixing it. A lot of people (myself included) struggle with this issue.

I’m 74 and because my BP was 137/90 or higher I was prescribed Lisinopril/HCTZ. About a year ago I switched to Morton Lite Salt, subsequently I’ve had to decrease my blood pressure medication by 75% as I was getting dizzy whenever I stood up. My BP was as low as 91/51.

I've been using Original No Salt which contains potassium chloride, potassium bitartrate, adipic acid, silicon dioxide, mineral oil, and fumaric acid. I find that it tastes like salt and works quite well for everything I use it on. My taste sensitivity to regular salt has gone way up since switching to potassium salt, so apparently it doesn't stimulate the taste buds the same way sodium salt does. But I have some concerns about the additives -- namely the mineral oil, which may have negative cardiovascular effects, and the fumaric acid. The fumaric acid is a confusing topic because the papers I looked weren't always clear about the differences between fumaric acid and fumaric acid esters. So it wasn't entirely clear if fumaric acid has the same potential to damage the heart, kidneys, and liver and fumaric acid esters. Even if it does, it's not clear if the presumably small amount of mineral oil and/or fumaric acid in this product would have any effect at all. Gil, would you please do a video about this? If this is too small a topic to do a dedicated video on, maybe you could do a video or a series of videos on common food additives that people might have concerns about.

Hey Gil, I wanted to mention that I started using potassium chloride as a salt substitute after watching your videos but I started to run into a problem. My blood pressure started to rise. I have history of stroke so my cardiologist put me a beta blocker because I have high blood pressure. I tried a lot of other blood pressure medications but the only I found, that had minimal side effects was Bystolic. When I looked online I discovered that it was the potassium chloride interacting with the Bystolic that was causing the sudden, sharp rise in my BP. So I stopped using the potassium chloride and everything is back to normal. Just so you know, my BP went from about 120/70 to 170/117. So maybe you need to warn people that potassium chloride is not the greatest salt substitute for everybody and for people like me, who have a history of stroke, it could potentially be lethal.

Here in Spain most supermarkets sell Potassium salt. I usually buy mine for around €1. It's a no brainer. It's cheap, last for ages and the benefits are amazing. Use it in a less processed and healthier eating routine and the results are amazing.

Nutritional yeast is a great hack. Lots of benefits. It also tastes a bit like Parmesan cheese. It may look expensive, but you don't need much per serving so a package lasts a long time.

I am concerned about iodine. I am vegan and it is hard to come by naturally. So I bought the Morten's lite 50/50 blend. Wow, I teaspoon is 50% of daily potassium and 100% iodine and half the sodium. Hell yeah! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I am giving my dad , who had a stroke a couple of years ago, a jar of it tomorrow. I love your channel🍄 And I am sending him this video!

This is the best nutrition channel Ive come across and Ive been watching stuff on nutrition for more than a decade now. That being said, he seems to be filmed by a flip phone camera. Investing in a good quality camera and lighting would go a long way in matching the quality of the content with quality of production. Sound is ok, which is the most important.