A pinch of salt before bed is often recommended against waking up to pee. The research points the other way: less salt meant fewer trips to the toilet at night.
Does less salt help against waking up to pee? The research points that way. Of 321 people with a high salt intake, 223 managed to cut back, and among them night-time urination fell from 2.3 to 1.4 times a night. Those who ate more salt got up more often.
My story said the opposite: a pinch of salt would prevent night-time urination. That claim I take back.
Does less salt help against waking up to pee?
My story claimed that a pinch of salt before bed prevents night-time trips to the toilet. The research says the opposite.
Of 321 Japanese patients with urinary complaints, 223 managed to eat less salt for twelve weeks, going from 10.7 to 8 grams a day. Their night-time urination dropped from 2.3 to 1.4 times a night. Those who ate more salt over the same period got up more often. A smaller study in 74 cardiology patients saw the same among those who stuck to it: from 2.5 to 1 time a night in the 56 adherent patients.
The average Belgian eats about 9.5 grams of salt a day. The World Health Organization's guideline is 5. Only people on a strict keto diet or those who sweat litres lose enough sodium to consider topping up, and even for them no study measures the effect on sleep. For everyone else, extra salt before bed is a bad idea.
Source: Matsuo et al.1 2019, Neurourology and Urodynamics; Monaghan et al.2 2020, Journal of Clinical Hypertension; Vandevijvere et al.3 2021, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Sciensano, 2018 data)
Supplements are the last five percent. The first 95 percent sits in your structure.
Go to bed around the same time every day. Keep your phone out of the bedroom. No more caffeine in the six hours before sleep. First thing in the morning, step outside into daylight for a moment.
You need neither a tracker nor fancy supplements. Stick to the basics. And that cup of chamomile? Go ahead and drink it. As a ritual.
The other two claims from my story are covered separately: magnesium and sleep and chamomile tea and sleep.
| Group in the study | Salt intake | Night-time urination | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 223 people who cut back | From 10.7 to 8 grams a day | From 2.3 to 1.4 times a night | Less salt, fewer wake-ups |
| 98 people who ate more | From 9.6 to 11 grams a day | From 2.3 to 2.7 times a night | More salt, more wake-ups |
The research points that way. Of 321 people with a high salt intake, 223 managed to cut back, and among them night-time urination fell from 2.3 to 1.4 times a night. It was not a randomised trial.
No study shows that. A strict ketogenic diet or heavy sweating do cost you sodium, but that is a plausible mechanism, not a measured effect on sleep.
Between 8 and 9.4 grams a day, depending on the formula used in the urine research. The World Health Organization norm is 5 grams.
Timon coaches online across Belgium and the Netherlands and also trains clients in person in Maldegem and Ghent.
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Every number in this article was checked against the original publication.
Chamomile contains apigenin, a compound that binds in mice to the same receptor as calming medication. In humans the evidence is far thinner.
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Magnesium is recommended everywhere for better sleep. If you are deficient it works, otherwise the effect is small. And the glycine in a bisglycinate tablet is a fifth of the dose that worked in research.
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