Christopher EllisCEO Dynamic Physio Therapy

Salt Myths Debunked: Insulin Resistance & Electrolytes Explained #shorts

20 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this short, Christopher Ellis shares his personal journey from a former personal trainer who avoided salt entirely to a more nuanced understanding of its role in the body. He explains that water follows salt, so consuming salt with water can cause the body to retain water—a useful hydration strategy. Ellis points out that the main electrolyte is sodium chloride, challenging the common claim that "salt is bad but electrolytes are good." He then connects insulin resistance to hormonal changes, specifically how it affects aldosterone, a hormone that regulates salt and water balance. When insulin resistance disrupts aldosterone signaling, the kidneys begin to hold onto too much salt, leading to excess water retention and altered electrolyte balance.

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When I was back when I was a personal trainer, I just thought salt bad, don't use salt. I would never salt my food. I lived off of tasteless chicken for years. It's more complicated than that. So salt can be an issue in the presence of insulin resistance. So in other words, salt— well, water chases salt. So if you are heavily salted and you drink water, you will retain a lot of that water, which is a trick to staying hydrated, by the way. And that's how electrolytes work, which is always funny to me because You'll hear a lot of people say, well, salt's bad for you, but electrolytes are good. Well, the main electrolyte is salt, so it doesn't really add up. But what happens is insulin, when you become insulin resistant, kind of affects aldosterone, which is another hormone that controls the salt and water balance. So basically, once that— in the kidneys— and once that is off, now your kidneys will sort of hold on to too much salt, where normally it does a good job of balancing salt and water. Now you're going to hold on to too much salt.