Salt is needed to regulate homeostasis and fluid levels in the body; sugar is fuel for the cells and brain; fat is a primary energy source and its components, fatty acids, support the basic functions of our body. Because we require all three in some form to survive, our taste buds and cravings have been finely tuned to drive us to find these in our environment. What's more, when we taste these components in our food, our brains tell us "get as much as possible!" In fact, the same dopamine release system in our brains that are triggered by cocaine are also stimulated by salt, sugar, and fat. This is where we get into trouble, as excess amounts of salt, sugar, and fat undermine our health and are associated with a variety of disease states: hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, dementia, kidney disease, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay, to name a few.

Salt should be no more than a 1:1 ratio to calories (if there are 125 calories per serving, salt amount should not exceed 125mg of salt.) Most soups, pasta sauces, and canned goods have from three to ten times more mgs. of sodium than calories per serving.

Question: If i just have one cup of black coffee a day, does that affect me health-wise in the long run?

Dr Esselstyn: Well, I don't like things that injure the endothelial layer. I'll give you the background of the study what swayed me on this. There was an Italian study where they had two groups of healthy young volunteers. One group was drinking coffee with caffeine. The other was drinking coffee that was decaf. And after they drank the coffee, they had the brachioradia tourniquet test which is a test for production of nitric oxide (NO). Then they would switch groups. The groupsthat formerly was having coffee without caffeine was now having coffee with caffeine. It was always the group that was having coffee with caffeine that diminished their endothelial output of nitric oxide. That's what swayed me.