# Eating salt competitively **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376 "2010-09-11T03:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/41 "2011-02-08T11:37:48Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It does and it is. Working in the heat for hours is one of the few instances where you do need to pay attention to ingesting the proper amount of electrolytes (not too much or conversely too little) I understand the concept of not too much or not too little but I don’t know the numerical values of either. At the time frame I’m discussing, the salt tablets I mentioned were free for the taking; one person might consume 5x what another person might consume even though the work environment was the same. I doubt anyone even considered electrolytes as I doubt the concept was common knowledge. I doubt that the salt tablets are still distributed since AC isn’t all that uncommon now. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/42 "2011-02-08T12:16:02Z")
I was once rather the worse for wear in a Chinese restaurant, and bet someone that I could down a whole bottle of soy sauce. Since it was a fairly small bottle, it would probably have been short of the lethal dose, but I am still glad that most of the party (who were all older and more sober than me) persuaded me not to proceed as I am sure vomiting (at best) would have followed otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/43 "2011-02-08T13:58:43Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > During my college days, a friend had the hiccups, and I told him about the spoonful-of-sugar cure. He had no sugar and decided to try it with salt. Well, he stopped hiccupping all right… it’s hard to hiccup when you’re gagging, choking and coughing uncontrollably. In fact gagging is a very good way to interrupt hiccuping - I had a bout that lasted a several days (not continuously, I’d wake up hiccup free, but something would set me off during the day and I would hiccup until I fell asleep that night) until I discovered the “joy” of gagging. I’d start hiccuping, excuse myself, finger down the throat, hiccups stopped - sometimes a good gag would stop it, other times I would have to actually throw up. Apparantly it is something to do with stimulating the [vagus nerve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve) which goes down the back of the throat. Carry on… ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/44 "2011-02-08T14:24:28Z")
I suppose that those tablets couldn’t have been more than a few grams, correct? ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/45 "2011-02-08T14:25:51Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > I was once rather the worse for wear in a Chinese restaurant, and bet someone that I could down a whole bottle of soy sauce… Oh don’t worry, lots of kids on YouTube do it regularly and seem to survive just fine after puking: https://www.youtube.com/embed/6n9oJNlN_0k?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque https://www.youtube.com/embed/G4Be0GcVo8s?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque These two, however, are lucky to be ok: https://www.youtube.com/embed/6n9oJNlN_0k?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque https://www.youtube.com/embed/DAbpK0doZqU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/46 "2011-02-08T14:33:31Z")
> [@SubcomandanteMarcos](#): > > P.F. Chang’s Wok Charred Beef packs a whopping 10,000mg of sodium, so nearly 25g’s of salt. Um, how do you figure that? 1mg=1/1000g, so 10,000mg=10g. That’s what’s so cool about the metric system. Not quite sure where you get the 25g from. Still, sounds pretty disgustingly salty… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/47 "2011-02-08T14:35:26Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Um, how do you figure that? 1mg=1/1000g, so 10,000mg=10g. That’s what’s so cool about the metric system. Not quite sure where you get the 25g from. > > Still, sounds pretty disgustingly salty… Salt is sodium chloride, and the sodium listing is only sodium. So the amount of salt would be larger than the amount of sodium, assuming that most of the sodium added was in the form of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/48 "2011-02-08T14:41:35Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Salt is sodium chloride, and the sodium listing is only sodium. So the amount of salt would be larger than the amount of sodium, assuming that most of the sodium added was in the form of salt. Oops, ignorance fought. Please apologize my snark… ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/49 "2011-02-08T14:44:07Z")
> [@SubcomandanteMarcos](#): > > The **Minimum Recorded Lethal Dose** (1g/kg) does seem to be pretty far-fetched in light of all of these videos… Toxic maybe, but lethal probably not. Note those words I bolded. “Minimum Recorded Lethal Dose” means the minimum dose at which fatalities have been recorded. No dose less than that has ever resulted in a death that was reported as “too much salt”. That means most people will survive that dose, or even higher doses, but a few people may be killed by eating that little. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/50 "2011-02-08T15:09:08Z")
> [@dsmith42](#): > > I went to a club meeting at which there was supposed to be free food, but when I got there all that was left was salt. I wanted my free food (it was college after all). On the spur of the moment, I decided that I would take the only free food available. I, for one, think you are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/51 "2011-02-08T15:58:36Z")
Back in my fat days, I ate nothing and drank only water for four days and got very dizzy. I figured I was peeing too much and losing too much salt. So I drank a cup of water with two tablespoons of salt in it. Five minutes later I was puking into the sink. Thus ended the fast. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/52 "2011-02-08T17:06:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Back in my fat days, I ate nothing and drank only water for four days and got very dizzy. I figured I was peeing too much and losing too much salt. So I drank a cup of water with two tablespoons of salt in it. > > Five minutes later I was puking into the sink. Thus ended the fast. Warm salt water is one of the ways you induce vomiting - an old and perhaps [depending on the substance] treatment for poisoning. Beats shoving a finger down your throat. ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/53 "2011-02-08T18:35:36Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Warm salt water is one of the ways you induce vomiting - an old and perhaps [depending on the substance] treatment for poisoning. > > Beats shoving a finger down your throat. Indeed it has been used as an emetic for quite a long time, thousands of years some say, until we wised up in the 1960’s and recognized its potential lethality: [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?\_ob=ArticleURL&\_udi=B6W7W-4DFT078-1&\_user=3741996&\_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2005&\_rdoc=1&\_fmt=high&\_orig=search&\_origin=search&\_sort=d&\_docanchor=&view=c&\_searchStrId=1634626719&\_rerunOrigin=google&\_acct=C000061265&\_version=1&\_urlVersion=0&\_userid=3741996&md5=f7ef70ef4350c75670da9e7955cbd2c3&searchtype=a](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W7W-4DFT078-1&_user=3741996&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2005&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1634626719&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000061265&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=3741996&md5=f7ef70ef4350c75670da9e7955cbd2c3&searchtype=a) Consequently you will no longer find salt-induced emesis advocated in any medical/survival manual or book. ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/54 "2011-02-08T18:56:25Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Note those words I bolded. “Minimum Recorded Lethal Dose” means the minimum dose at which fatalities have been recorded. No dose less than that has ever resulted in a death that was reported as “too much salt”. That means most people will survive that dose, or even higher doses, but a few people may be killed by eating that little. Good point-- I meant to address that in the post but forgot about it. I meant to suggest that many, in my google research, list 1g/kg as something more akin to the LD50. I offer that it seems to truly be the minimum recorded. I’m also interested why there aren’t more cases of salt poisoning, as the toxicity range would probably be something like .5g/kg up, and Annie’s two tablespoons would seemingly do more than induce vomitting assuming that some of the NaCl was partially absorbed ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/55 "2011-02-10T06:30:13Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > It’s college, I’m assuming he was drunk. Isn’t everyone perpetually drunk in college? Not me, I was perpetually stoned. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/56 "2011-02-10T06:35:23Z")
Why do people throw up faster with wam water hyper- salted than room temperature? IIRC I have seen this suggested in basic (legitimate) home emergency care books? ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/57 "2011-02-10T11:15:32Z")
Toxicology is really complicated, something like this is going to be effected by general health, existing hydration level at exposure, whether vomiting occurs (this is going to be a big one), and the availability and absorption of salt in whatever is eaten (jerky might contain a lot of salt, but it’s going to take longer to absorb than table salt), and those are just off the top of my head. Your body has very effective systems for dealing with excess salt, but if you overload them over a short period of time you could very easily die, and the line between feeling like shit and being dead might be quite a slim one. Stressing your kidneys in this way is probably not a sensible thing to be doing either. It’s not guaranteed to kill you, but you’d be an idiot to expose yourself to large amounts. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/58 "2011-02-10T11:20:43Z")
Also, from what I can recall, children are far more vulnerable to this (probably just as a result of lower body weight). The classic type of salt poisoning case is a child forced to eat salt as a punishment by parents who don’t realise the dangers. Case [here](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/adoption-couple-who-killed-child-with-salt-get-five-years-486573.html), but I’ve certainly heard of others. ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/59 "2011-02-10T14:12:40Z")
> [@enigmatic](#): > > It’s not guaranteed to kill you, but you’d be an idiot to expose yourself to large amounts. Did you get a chance to watch any of those YouTube videos earlier in the thread? It’s sadly not uncommon for posters on there to eat a lot of salt at once. Maybe that’s some ignorance we should fight. At any rate, here’s an additional one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/26oueWG-_QY/hqdefault.jpg "marc eating salt") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26oueWG-_QY) It seems to me that if it were as readily lethal/toxic as most medical reports seem to sugest, one of the kids in these videos would’ve died or gotten seriously (hospitalized) ill, in which case I doubt his/her friends would have posted the thing on YouTube. Maybe they’re just getting lucky? ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376/60 "2011-02-10T14:34:21Z")
Well the obvious first question is how many of those kids threw up after or during the video, that’s most of the salt gone right there. They might have eaten other stuff earlier and absorbed the salt more slowly. Your kidneys are going to be able to remove a certain amount of salt over a certain period so a relatively small additional amount over that threshold is going to have a much more debilitating effect. And from what I recall, the none lethal symptoms of this kind of poisoning are unpleasant but not necessarily debilitating, people may be able to get quite close to death without realising it. They might be also have been fine, but would have died if they had pulled the stupid stunt somewhere where they didn’t have enough access to drinking water. They might also not make the link when their kidneys crap out 15 years later partially as a result of the damage. The factors associated are just so variable, “the other kid’s are doing it so I’ll be fine” is just not the sort of logic you can apply to most types of poisoning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-salt-competitively/553376.md?page=4)