Salt - is it necessary?

Most people don’t. Also most people don’t realize how much sodium they are actually consuming. We all fall prey to the marketing lure of salty foods. In 1971, Center for Science and Public interest started the nutrition facts labeling on food products as well as removing the trans fats in the food supply in order to inform the American consumer. Salt is one of the most harmful substances added to the American diet. It causes hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease and strokes. The recommended amounts of sodium in food has not declined since the monitoring of dietary intakes. Salt has many purposes when added to foods; it flavors, it preserves, processes meats to preserves, texture in commercial breads, etc. But companies use more than is necessary, which helps to addict consumers. The average amount of sodium consumed by American’s today is roughly 3400 mg which is the equivalent of 1 ½ tsp per day of salt. The FDA recommended intake is 1 tsp, so we are ingesting 50% more. However, we only need 100 to 400 mg daily, which is typical for whole plant diets. Packaged food, eating at restaurants or eat meats, the intake is always higher than we need. The more natural, less processed our food, the lower the sodium.