You may have heard the debates about sugar and salt. Which one is worse for your body and more important to limit or avoid? The key is moderation for both sugar and salt, but research shows that sugar may be slightly worse than salt.

Learn more about sugar and salt:

1. Why you crave sugar and salt. Many people find it hard to stop eating sugary or salty food.
   • Salty pretzels and chips, or sugary soda and candy can be hard to avoid. They’re both tempting and delicious, but they can wreak havoc with your nutritional eating habits.
   • You may be craving sugar and salt for several reasons. If you’re dehydrated, you may crave salt. Your muscles may also be craving salt. On the other hand, if you haven’t eaten in hours or you are starving, you may crave sugar. The brain can crave sugar too.
2. Why sugar is dangerous. An excess amount of sugar increases the risk of obesity. It’s also tied to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other health issues.
   • Kidney failure, strokes, and heart attacks are possible from eating excess sugar.
3. Why salt is dangerous. Too much salt is usually associated with the risk of high blood pressure. If your blood pressure is too high, the risk of heart attacks and strokes increases significantly.
   • An excess amount of salt may also cause fluid buildup in the body.
4. Is sugar more dangerous? Some experts believe that sugar is more dangerous because it can cause more issues and lead to more serious long-term health concerns.¹
   • Although some believe that sugar is worse for you than salt, it’s crucial to remember that both can cause issues if you eat too much. It’s important to consume both salt and sugar in moderation and monitor your levels.
5. Look for hidden sources of sugar and salt. You probably don’t add extra sugar to your food all the time. The same thing may be true for salt. However, you may be getting both of them from hidden sources.
   • Prepackaged meals and snacks tend to be filled with high levels of sugar and salt. Manufacturers add them to improve the taste and flavor, but your health is affected. Before you buy a processed food, take time to read the label to see how much sugar and sodium is inside.
   • Beverages are another source of too much salt and sugar. Have you stopped to consider what’s inside your favorited drink? Vegetable juices such as tomato juice tend to have a lot of sodium. On the other hand, fruit juices can be loaded with sugar.
   • Restaurant and fast food meals also have a huge amount of salt and sugar. The companies do this to make you love their food and come back for more. You may not realize how much is in the food because you can’t always get the ingredient list or see the full menu. Go ahead and ask them what’s in your food! You’ll be more informed.

Limiting your sugar and salt intake is essential for your health. However, eating too much sugar may hurt you even more than having too much salt. If you’re worried about negative health effects from the amount of sugar and salt you consume, consult your doctor for safe amounts.

^{1 DiNicolantonio JJ, Lucan SCThe wrong white crystals: not salt but sugar as aetiological in hypertension and cardiometabolic diseaseOpen Heart 2014;1:e000167. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2014-000167}