Celebrity nutritionist Pooja Makhija’s take on salt intake has been countered by a medical professional. Makhija’s comments came during a YouTube podcast with Raj Shamani.

Makhija is known for working with Bollywood celebrities, including Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor, and Hrithik Roshan. She has also helped Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor. She has appeared on MasterChef India.

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The nutritionist has ‘made planet earth more than 125,000 kilos lighter’, according to her official website. She opposes the common connection between salt intake and high blood pressure.

“Someone gets a stroke, someone gets a heart attack, or someone just collapsed out of we don’t know what, we rush him in an ambulance. Without talking to any doctors, without knowing medical history, what is the first thing they give? Saline. What is saline? 9000mg of sodium,” Pooja Makhija said.

“Why? Because sodium reduces BP. Even for a person who’s got a stroke, they will first give you saline. And, sometimes they do a push, which is two units of saline, which is 18,000 milligrams of sodium,” she further said.

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“Your body requires sodium to restart the water that is being held, the kidneys to filter, and the heart to pump. Sodium is not the culprit. It was demonised so that sugar could shine and diseases could flourish,” she added.

“If you have excess salt, it’ll come out in your urine. If you have excess sugar, does it just come out in your urine? It gets stored as fat,” Makhija said.

According to Pooja Makhija, the kidneys work harder to reabsorb sodium if there is not enough salt. This process makes the brain push the pancreas to release more insulin, which lowers blood sugar and creates extra hunger.

“The body actually needed salt and protein, not more sugar. Once you get enough salt, you realise you don’t crave that sugar as much,” she said on Raj Shamani’s podcast

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She advises people to cook with iodised salt because iodine supports the thyroid. Modern water filters remove minerals from natural water, making it harder for the body to utilise, according to her.

“Just put a small crystal of rock salt on your tongue, and drink your water,” she advised.

Doctor challenges Celebrity nutritionist’s claim

An AIIMS doctor sharply challenged the Celebrity nutritionist’s claim about salt and hospital saline use.

Dr Arihant Jain, Senior Resident, EM and Trauma, AIIMS, New Delhi, dismissed the nutritionist’s opinion. He said the video did not share correct evidence and that salt can harm many patients who already have medical risks.

“The information about salt shared in this video isn’t accurate or evidence-based. Salt is definitely harmful for certain group of individuals,” the doctor posted in a comment on YouTube.

Dr Arihant Jain’s comment

According to him, doctors do not give saline to raise sodium levels but to replace lost body fluid when it is truly required. Heart attack patients may even avoid fluids because their bodies can already retain excess water.

“Secondly, the “push” being discussed refers to a diluted injection of epinephrine (adrenaline), where saline is just the diluting agent — the actual drug being given is epinephrine, not saline,” the AIIMS doctor added.

Newer studies prefer Ringer’s lactate for many emergency cases, according to Dr Jain. He warned that wrong information about salt and saline can mislead people and may even put vulnerable patients at risk.

“Misinformation like this can be harmful, especially for certain patient groups who might take such advice seriously,” he added.