The Truth about Salt in Your Diet

Walter Kempner from Duke University, North Carolina, shot to fame for recommending lowering salt intake for the treatment of those with high blood pressure.
Further research affirmed that cutting down on salt can aid the reduction of hypertension.
However, it is not necessary that you totally avoid salt because as adults we need a moderate amount of sodium in our diets to maintain the balance of fluids in our bodies.
The average intake of salt has come down in recent years, on the whole due to reformulation of products.
However, most of us still eat too much salt on a daily basis, approximately 9g daily as opposed to 6g per day; three quarters of which is in processed foods like processed meats, sandwiches, sauces and soups.
Many of us consider it unhealthy to add salt to cooking or on to our plates, however, that just forms 10 per cent of total salt intake.
There are those of us, who do not have salt on their table, yet they have an extremely high salt intake, whereas, other people put salt on the majority of their meals, however, have a lower salt intake.
Carbohydrate high foods have become less popular in recent years as they are considered to be high in calories and therefore unhealthy.
However, they are often low in salt, full of fibre and nutrients and high in energy.
Potatoes are known to be a key source of vitamin C, however, UK potato consumption has decreased significantly as they are considered to be fattening. In fact it’s the knobs of butter, the high calorie cheese and other toppings that are fattening not the potato itself, unless it is fried.