LMNT has become a daily staple for me. I’ve always enjoyed adding good Celtic salt to my eggs and meals, and this electrolyte powder has been a great addition for hydration and energy levels.
However, when I came across a study linking salt intake to stomach cancer, I had to dig deeper. I reviewed the study closely and reached out to the clinical team at LMNT for their perspective.
The main takeaway is that media often creates sensational headlines that can confuse what is truly healthy. For the full story, see below.
[fusion_section_separator divider_type=”triangle” custom_svg=”” divider_height_medium=”” divider_height_small=”” divider_height=”” divider_repeat_medium=”1″ divider_repeat_small=”1″ divider_repeat=”1″ divider_position=”center” divider_candy=”top” icon=”” icon_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” backgroundcolor=””][/fusion_section_separator]
My Email To LMNT
forwarding this study: Kronsteiner-Gicevic, S., et al. (2024). Adding salt to food at table as an indicator of gastric cancer risk among adults: a prospective study. Gastric Cancer. doi.org/10.1007/s10120-024-01502-9.
Hello,
Is it possible to connect with your clinical team to get their response to a study like this? I am a dietitian who loves sea salt and LMNT, using both generously and allowing my intuition and taste to guide my limits. Do you have any data comparing the health effects of table salt versus LMNT or sea salt, as well as overall feedback on this new study?
Thank you, Kelly
Robb Wolf’s Reply
“This is an interesting topic and one that’s frankly frustrating as I feel like no matter how thorough the answer seems, there is still more to dig into. That said, here is my take on this and it’s a few different angles:
-From the paper you forwarded, you will notice the following:
“Among other things, the answers to the question: “How often do you add salt to your food?” were collected by questionnaire between 2006 and 2010. So, this paper is what’s called a “Food Frequency Questionnaire.” Essentially, it’s asking folks to recall what they ate…and to put it mildly, the data obtained from this type of research is just terrible. Dr. John Ionidis, who has for years been THE most cited researcher in the world (he’s now “only” in the top 5!) has made the case that this type of research is so low quality that it likely just should not be funded or conducted any longer: https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/08/24/john-ioannidis-aims-his-bazooka-nutrition-science-13357
I’ve been battling stuff like this for nearly 25 years and I guess the best spin I can put on that is it’s job security! But it’s also frustrating as I believe it unnecessarily scares people.
We could likely leave it at that, but I have a background in biochemistry and toxicology and I want to be thorough on this, so I looked and looked for the proposed mechanism of action around sodium chloride (salt) and cancer.
There is absolutely nothing I can find that implicates salt as a carcinogen BY ITSELF. What we do find is salt intake with certain known food additives does have a relationship: https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article-abstract/15/7/1429/364522
But this is a very different story than saying “salt causes stomach cancer.” Salt may be a promoter, but it appears to be in the context of burnt meat, and other situations in which nitrosamines are present in food. AND even then, just putting olive oil or similar antioxidant rich marinades on meat dramatically reduces nitrosamine production: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/9/8/711
As an interesting aside and really not related to dietary sodium intake, but sodium chloride nanoparticles are actually being used to improve chemotherapy! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6886716/
I know that was a lot, but I want to be thorough on this and simply saying “don’t worry about it” does not seem like an acceptable answer. So, to recap:
-IMO the data supporting salt causing cancer is weak
-To the degree there IS a relationship between cancer and sodium intake, it appears to be highly dependent on simultaneous intake of things like nitrosamines (which fresh food has little, and the situation of say, grilled meats, can be dramatically improved)
I think this is yet another case for minimizing highly processed foods (which is also where folks obtain the bulk of their sodium).”
