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Book Review: The Salt Fix by Dr. James DiNicolantonio


Recently I went to Charles Poliquin's house to get some training in at his basement gym. He was kind enough to supply me with all the nutrition surrounding my workout. As he was preparing my pre workout drink he asked if I salt my pre workout. I looked at him puzzled and asked what that was about. He didn't say much on the topic, but it was enough to spark my interest. He hit on how salt can be a limiting factor for muscle protein synthesis and that the recommendations set by general health guidelines are absurdly low. Especially for people who train hard. I'm not one to bug the shit out of him with a million questions, so I took that and went looking for more answers.

Enter "The Salt Fix"

How can I have been doing what I do for so long and not have know about this!?

The book is a quick and easy read (I read it in 2 short sittings this weekend), but don't let it fool you. This should be REQUIRED reading for anyone in the industry. If you are not talking about salt to ALL of your clients, you have a huge blind spot in your system. The book goes over the history of our perspective as a culture towards salt, how the body uses it, medical conditions that compromise salt balance, contraindications with increasing salt, how to track your balance, smart guideline on how to increase your intake, and many other instances in where more salt can help. Most surprising to me is how chronically low we are in our daily intake, how the body gets by on that so you think you're ok, but then how much better you can do with increasing your levels. Even with me having a salt shaker at the gym and salting my water 3-4 times a day, I feel I could still benefit from more salt (and in fact I will be increasing my intake as the book recommends).

I highly suggest reading this book. There is something of relevance for everyone in here. If you are managing a medical condition, taking certain prescriptions, trying to lose weight, on a low carb plan, train regularly, pregnant, ....the list goes on. Point blank, everyone needs to know what is in here.

"evidence suggests a loss of salt is more dangerous than a loss of water" "you can easily lose an entire day's worth of salt in one hour of exercise" "depletion of salt can lead to greater symptoms of over training"

"depletion leads to impaired strength and energy metabolism from increased acidity of our cells"

"Athletes who experience arthritis can find relief from increasing salt intake" "Higher levels of ketones, greater release of glucagon, and lower levels of insulin, all of which occur in a low carb diet, increase excretion of sodium"


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