Should You Be Adding Sea Salt to Your Water for Better Hydration
According to the American Heart Association, the human body needs 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily, and most people consume way more than that. Too-high sodium levels in your body can be hazardous, especially over a long period of time. Gnozzio warns if you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, solé water can have negative effects. “If you’re adding more salt to the system when your doctors are trying to [reduce the] salt in your system that can also be dangerous,” she adds.
I Added a Pinch of Salt to My Water Every Day for 30 Days and Here’s What Happened
Did it really make me more hydrated? Here’s what I thought.
Based in Brooklyn and raised on the Connecticut coast, Kiersten Hickman is a freelance journalist and content strategist covering a variety of topics across the food, health and lifestyle categories.
Published on April 19, 2024
Reviewed by Dietitian
Emily Lachtrupp is a registered dietitian experienced in nutritional counseling, recipe analysis and meal plans. She’s worked with clients who struggle with diabetes, weight loss, digestive issues and more. In her spare time, you can find her enjoying all that Vermont has to offer with her family and her dog, Winston.
These days, hydration is an accessory. It’s not uncommon to see someone carrying around their large Stanley tumbler—and they may not even be carrying plain old water. In fact, that trendy water bottle may be filled with a water “recipe” inspired by #WaterTok creators.
With such a huge focus on hydration right now, there’s also this social media-fueled idea that adding a pinch of salt to your water will make you even more hydrated while detoxing and cleansing your body at the same time. But is there any credibility to this claim?
As a journalist who takes pride in debunking anything weird I see online, I decided to do a little experiment and try this trend myself. For 30 days, I added a pinch of salt (around 1/16 to 1/8 of a teaspoon) to my 40-ounce tumbler of water to see if I felt any different. I filled up in the morning before my workout and drank it until it was gone, typically around lunchtime. By the end of the challenge I found myself seeking answers from experts to confirm how I was feeling about it. Here’s what I found out about adding a pinch of salt to your water every day—and if it’s actually worth it.
What Happened When I Added a Pinch of Salt to My Water for 30 Days
I Didn’t Feel Any Different
Like almost every other weird health claim we see on social media, this claim that adding salt water to your body will boost your hydration didn’t actually do anything for me. After a week of adding salt to my water and not feeling any different, I decided to be patient. Halfway through I found myself frustrated when nothing changed, and by the time I hit day 30, I was annoyed that I just spent a month drinking salty water and experiencing none of these amazing hydrating benefits.
Defeated and a little bewildered, I turned to a few experts and asked lots of questions. Was drinking salt water for 30 days really hydrating me and maybe I just wasn’t noticing? Is there any scientific evidence proving this actually works, or is it a bunch of bull? Thankfully, their answers satisfied my queries and gave me better insight into why this claim even exists in the first place.
Turns Out, I Didn’t Need the Extra Electrolytes
The idea that salted water will help hydrate you comes from the science of electrolyte replenishment. Electrolytes work to balance the amount of water in your body as well as the body’s pH levels, among many other functions. If you’re not getting enough sodium—and other electrolytes like potassium, calcium and magnesium—then your body will experience dehydration.
Thing is, dehydration happens when your body loses more fluid than what you’re taking in. Most commonly, dehydration is possible after you sweat a lot or are sick and are losing fluids. Signs of dehydration include confusion, fainting, rapid heartbeat, breathing and—in the worst cases—shock. But for the average person like me who is not sweating a lot or sick? Extra electrolytes from nutrients like sodium aren’t necessary.
My Workout Didn’t Improve
If you’re exercising for longer than 90 minutes or spending hours in hot or humid weather, you can benefit from added electrolytes, says Amy Goodson, M.S., RD, a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics.
But you’ll probably need more than just a pinch of salt in those instances. “While this may help replenish electrolytes to some extent, it may not be sufficient for athletes engaged in prolonged or intense exercise, particularly if they’re losing significant amounts of electrolytes through sweat,” says Goodson. Athletes, in particular, may need sports drinks or specialized electrolyte supplements—not just some slightly salty water.
However, my weekly routine involves lifting weights, going on an easy jog in the morning and heading to yoga. I am breaking a sweat regularly, but I’m not sweating enough to experience any symptoms of dehydration.
Goodson recommends drinking half your body weight in ounces of liquid, which includes tea and coffee. For me, I make a point of drinking my recommended amount of liquid every day. I challenge myself to finish at least one fill of my 40-ounce water bottle in the morning.
Salt Water Did Not Detox My Body
Along with dehydration, wellness gurus also claim that drinking salt water will help to detox and cleanse your body, especially if you add a squeeze of lemon to it. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with adding a squeeze of lemon to your water, it won’t detox your body.
The only thing that can truly detox your body from toxins and metabolize anything is your liver. The liver helps metabolize the nutrients you consume, such as food and medication, and distributes them to the parts of your body for proper functioning. Drinking water does help the liver remove those toxins, but it’s not like the added salt and lemon is doing the work. It’s the water that is key for keeping the liver functioning well. Again, given my normal water intake and functioning organs, it’s no wonder salt water didn’t do anything extra for me in that department.
I Did Consume More Sodium
Salt provides sodium, which is a mineral our body needs. However, getting ample sodium in the diet isn’t exactly a problem for most people. While the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming under 2,300 milligrams of salt a day, the average American is actually consuming 3,400 milligrams. You don’t need to add more salt on top of this, says Huma Chaudhry, RD. “Most people are already getting enough sodium through their diet, so adding a pinch of salt to your water may be unnecessary for everyday life unless you are exposed to situations that can lead to dehydration,” she says. What’s more, drinking water will help flush out excess sodium in the body, so adding even more sodium to your water doesn’t exactly make sense.
Given I drink an adequate amount of water and consume sodium in my diet, it’s not necessary for me to add a pinch of salt to my H20, which is probably why I didn’t see results during this 30-day challenge.
The Bottom Line
While adding a pinch of salt to your water to keep yourself hydrated sounds like a simple solution, the science behind it is more nuanced. Salt provides sodium, which is an electrolyte that helps hydrate the body. However, if you’re already drinking adequate water and consuming sodium in your meals, you don’t need the extra salt in your water. Take it from my experience: There’s no need to drink salty water all day—and boy am I thankful for that.
EatingWell.com, April 2024
Should You Be Adding Sea Salt to Your Water for Better Hydration?
We asked experts why everyone’s sprinkling salt into their water bottles—and whether it’s really necessary.
Lindsay is a freelance travel and lifestyle journalist covering topics from love, marriage, fitness, wellness, psychology, and entrepreneurism.
Updated on September 29, 2023
Reviewed by
Dr. Vivek Cherian, MD is an internal medicine physician, on-camera medical expert, and medical consultant who works to help brands like Real Simple remain abreast of current events as they relate to medicine and promote their audience’s health and wellness.
In This Article
In This Article
Hydration is key to a healthy, balanced body all year long, and particularly in warmer temperatures. It’s also a vital component of maintaining performance during strenuous workouts.
The truth is that every single person will have different, individual hydration needs, but generally speaking, women need 2.7 liters of water daily, and men need 3.7 liters, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This minimum might be too low for you, and your body may need a bit more if you’re super-active or the weather outside.
Plain water is usually the number-one best way to hydrate—in addition to the other hydrating foods and drinks you’re consuming throughout the day (coffee, milk, tea, veggies, and fruits are all hydrating and count toward daily goals!).
A recent hydration health fad, however, suggests that adding salt to your water could boost its hydrating benefits—but is there any truth to it? Also known as solé water—water with added pink Himalayan salt—this hydration trend is blowing up the wellness world. We asked experts and consulted the research to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of drinking salt water. And here’s what they had to say about it.
What is solé water?
Solé water is a concentrated solution of natural salts, specifically pink Himalayan Sea Salt and purified water, mixed to the point where the water is fully saturated with salt over 24 hours in your fridge, explains Benjamin Brown, clinical nutrition and exercise physiology expert, and CEO and head coach at BSL Nutrition. You are not supposed to drink this solution straight up—instead, the idea is to add a small amount of the solution (think: one teaspoon) to your daily water intake to reap a myriad of proposed health benefits, he explains.
What’s the history of solé water?
Your TikTok or Instagram feeds might be full of wellness influencers gushing about this “new” way to hydrate—but the practice of mixing salt into water has a very long history, dating back hundreds of years. Solé water has its roots in ancient Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine practices, according to Josie L. Tenore, MD, board-certified physician and chief scientific officer for GoHydrate.
“Ayurveda, an ancient holistic healing system, mentions the concept of solé water in texts like the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita,” she says. “The term ‘solé’ derives from the Sanskrit word for ‘sun’—and it involves saturating purified water with Himalayan salt crystals.”
Even if you’ve never heard of solé water or made it at home, you probably notice a difference in the taste of various water sources—and even have a preference. Consider tasting tap water in Europe versus drinking from the tap in the United States. Generally speaking, European water contains a higher mineral content and, thus, could taste a tad salty and different if you’re not used to it. Mineral water is the most preferred drink in Germany, with 142 liters consumed per year per capita, says Samantha Harte, DPT, yoga-certified physical therapist of Strong Harte Fitness.
“Early inhabitants discovered that the rainwater washing over volcanic mountains had a rich collection of minerals that made the water clean and tasty,” Harte continues. “All these years later, people are still consuming it because it promises both a purity of taste and potential of benefits.”
Does salt water improve hydration?
Here’s the thing: Salt water, or solé water, does technically hydrate you—but in a way that’s not completely necessary. Biomechanically, by adding salt to your body, you’re helping the water hanging out outside of the actual cells get absorbed into the cell, says Nikki Gnozzio, personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and founder of Junction Bodyworks in New Jersey. Hence, it becomes useful or bioavailable for hydration. “All the salt is doing is kind of being that bridge from the outer cell to the inner cell so that you can utilize the water more,” Gnozzio explains.
Nikki Gnozzio, personal trainer and founder of Junction Bodyworks
“If you’re not a heavy sweater, there’s absolutely no reason to be including these additional salts.”
— Nikki Gnozzio, personal trainer and founder of Junction Bodyworks
Are there benefits to solé water?
Is it just a fad? Are there actual benefits to consuming solé water? Well, yes and no, experts agree. Dr. Tenore notes that Himalayan salt is often considered superior due to its minimally processed state and rich mineral content.
“While it is true that Himalayan salt is hand-harvested and retains its distinctive pink color due to minimal processing and lack of bleaching, the additional minerals and electrolytes in it are present in relatively low concentrations,” she says. “Therefore, the claimed health benefits stemming from these minerals may be overestimated.”
Here are some of the known benefits—as well as the exaggerated claims—of drinking solé water.
Solé water could benefit heavy sweaters.
Gnozzio says that if you’re a heavy sweater and you’re doing strenuous, draining exercise that requires heavy sweating, then this is a good way to replenish your system.
However: “If you’re not a heavy sweater, there’s absolutely no reason to be including these additional salts,” she adds. In other words, plain water is just fine!
Solé water may help improve sleep—but the research is limited.
Dr. Tenore says that, while there is some scientific evidence suggesting a link between low salt levels and interrupted sleep, increasing salt intake is not a universal solution. “People with high blood pressure should avoid increasing their salt consumption for sleep improvement,” she adds.
Solé water may provide a hydration boost.
Will drinking a salt water solution hydrate you? Definitely—simply put, solé water mainly consists of water, contributing to overall hydration. “However, excessive water intake can lead to hyponatremia, a condition where blood sodium levels become too low,” Dr. Tenore warns. “Consuming solé water in moderation can be beneficial for most healthy individuals. Remember, the other electrolytes and minerals in the Himalayan salt are insignificant.”
Solé water alone won’t reduce your stress.
While Dr. Tenore says, studies indicate that increased sodium levels may help regulate stress hormones during stressful situations. However, it’s important to note that a bit of salt doesn’t make you feel instantly less anxious or overwhelmed. Instead, managing your stress symptoms with long-term strategies—through sustainable wellness habits like exercise, a balanced diet, consistent sleep schedules, and mindfulness—is the most important.
Solé water is not a weight loss solution.
Contrary to claims, solé water does not possess specific properties that aid in weight loss. “Proper hydration can help manage appetite, but solely relying on solé water for weight loss is not recommended,” Dr. Tenore says.
Is solé water dangerous?
According to the American Heart Association, the human body needs 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily, and most people consume way more than that. Too-high sodium levels in your body can be hazardous, especially over a long period of time. Gnozzio warns if you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, solé water can have negative effects. “If you’re adding more salt to the system when your doctors are trying to [reduce the] salt in your system that can also be dangerous,” she adds.
The Bottom Line
Gnozzio reiterates that if you’re not a heavy exerciser or endurance athlete, then there’s most likely no reason to add salt to your water intake. If you’re having trouble staying hydrated and need a lot of help replenishing lost fluids and electrolytes, she says it can be “a good way to “cheat the system” efficiently—but for the most part, it’s not a magic wellness cure-all or the key to “perfect” or “better” hydration (despite what your favorite social media influencer claims). Keep sipping water throughout the day and eating plenty of fruits and veggies for all the hydration you need.
