This is another classic half truth. it is true that 9% of the adult population does have to watch their salt intake, not the entire adult population. For people like me who have hypo-tension ( naturally low blood pressure) we need salt in our diets ti normalize blood pressure. Anyway my theory is that the demonisation of salt is to sell more junk food that is loaded with salt by conditioning people to become salt deficient and get a craving for junk food.
We need salt. lol I don't know about that making us want fast food. I might want a shake. I was able to get the sick cat to eat his food when I crumbled the teenytiniest bit of potato chip on his food/meat. It can worsen hypertension or even be a cause of it if the ingestion is out of control yet it can also be healing. so there ya go
You should have also noted that excessive amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrate foods (not that I am saying they are inherently evil) can result in chronically elevated insulin levels, and elevated insulin levels make the body retain water and thus sodium. So perhaps sugar is more of the enemy than salt here. This is why people initially lose so much weight once they go on a low-carb diet, and are often advised to supplement with a quality, unrefined salt. The body sheds a ton of water once insulin levels drop. REAL salt is what people need, but not in the form of one of the key ingredients in most processed junk foods. Himalayan Pink Salt will always be my go-to.
A while ago I bought a 25kg bag of unrefined salt crystals for $9 from a farm supplies shop. To use I have some dissolved in water and add a cap-full to my steamed vegies. For soup or a casserole I just add crystals directly. I also have some ground up with a coffee grinder.
I hardly ever eat processed food so i dont worry about my sodium intake at all. I use just enough salt to bring out the flavor of food. And at PR's suggestion i have been using himalayan pink salt for a couple of years. It makes food taste so much better than table salt.
There must be some good salt in between pink salt from the Himalya (assuming it's not just some brand name ) and the kind of salt found in most processed foods?
