Many patients ask me if salt is bad for vertigo. Should they avoid salt?

My answer is: It depends.

Depending on the root cause of dizziness or vertigo, salt may:

• Trigger a vertigo attack,
• Reduce dizziness or vertigo,
• Prevent a vertigo attack, or
• Salt can have no effect at all.

In this blog, I will discuss five specific conditions and situations of dizziness or vertigo affected by salt intake.

Meniere’s Disease

For patients with Meniere’s disease, salt is a common trigger of vertigo attacks. This idiopathic condition is called primary endolymphatic hydrops.

For patients diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, the treatment plan includes avoiding table salt and high-sodium foods like canned or frozen foods.

In those cases, consuming a high amount of salt such as chips and margaritas with salt on the rim on a hot day can trigger a vertigo attack lasting for minutes to hours.

Resting Low Blood Pressure

Some patients have naturally low blood pressure, which is called resting hypotension. If the patient has symptoms such as lightheadedness from low blood pressure, their doctor recommends a certain amount of salt intake per day to bring the blood pressure up closer to normal.

In those cases, taking regular amount of salt per day is like taking a medication to reduce the dizziness from resting low blood pressure.

Dysautonomia

When we get up or stand up, our heart rate and blood pressure adapt and adjust to maintain good blood flow to our brain.

If someone has an abnormal blood pressure or heart rate response to standing, they may feel dizzy while standing up.

This is called dysautonomia. There are many different types of dysautonomia depending on how the heart rate and blood pressure respond to standing.

Dizziness while standing can:

• Come and go in seconds to minutes,
• Last the whole time they are upright, or
• Continue to get worse the longer they stand up.

For patients with some form of dysautonomia, salt usually needs to be taken daily like a medication to reduce symptoms of dizziness.

Vestibular Migraines

For patients with a history of migraines or vestibular migraines, low electrolytes may be a migraine trigger.

Electrolytes can drop from sweating or getting overheated.

Therefore, patients who are susceptible to migraines should replenish electrolytes on hot days or when sweating a lot to prevent a vertigo attack due to vestibular migraine.

Low Carb Diets

People on a low-carb diet (like the popular keto or carnivore diets) usually need to supplement electrolytes to prevent dizziness and lightheadedness.

What Kind of Salt is Best?

My family and I use either Himalayan salt or sea salt.

I hope this blog helps you understand that salt may cause a vertigo attack, may reduce dizziness, may prevent a vertigo attack, or may have no effect, depending on the root cause.