So how bad is salt (or more correctly, sodium) for our health...really?
There is a lot of misconception about salt. The general belief is that salt is bad for your health because it raises your blood pressure and therefore, a threat to your cardiovascular health.
Well, I found a blog by Dr. Mercola that says this is not true. Aside from making your blood goes up or down, it plays a complicated part in our overall health .
Read on...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/04/high-salt-consumption.aspx
If you don't have the time to read the whole article, just read the last section. I think it is the most relevant and important part vis-a-vis our daily food choices!
"More than 80 percent of the salt most people consume is from processed foods. Indeed, there is far too much sodium in processed foods. But you shouldn't be eating those foods anyway—sodium is just one of MANY ingredients in packaged foods that will adversely affect your health. The salt added to these convenience foods is bleached out, trace mineral deficient and mostly sodium—as opposed to natural salt, which is much lower in sodium and contains a myriad of other critical trace minerals. Himalayan salt, for example, contains about 86 different minerals, and in terms of taste, you cannot compare it to regular table salt. Natural salt has flavor, over and above just salty taste.
The more you can move toward a diet of whole organic foods in their natural state, the healthier you'll be—whether it's veggies, meat, dairy products, or salt. And increasing your vegetable intake will help insure you’re getting the ideal ratio of sodium-to-potassium, which may be more crucial for overall health than we currently imagine.
Given that salt is absolutely essential to good health, I recommend limiting, or ideally, eliminating processed foods and processed table salt and switching to a pure, unrefined salt. Generally speaking, it is perfectly fine to salt your food to taste, provided the salt you're using is natural and unrefined and you’re eating plenty of vegetables."
