Low Salt Diet?

Salt is important for life, however, Aussies are taking far too much. The terms salt and sodium are usually used interchangeably but they associate to different things. Salt is made up of salt and chloride and it’s the sodium in salt that can be bad for your health.

Eating too much salt is bad for your heart and your overall health. Improve your whole diet by flavor food with natural herbs and herbs instead of salt.
Eating too much sodium over time can improve your threat of high blood pressure, which is the main risk element for heart disease. For a healthy heart, it’s essential not to eat too much salt.
To decrease blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease, the Heart Base suggests adults eat less than 5g of salt (2000mg of sodium) a day. That’s less than a teaspoon a day.

Eat well, not too much, most of it plants

I've lived through the eat margarine not butter, then the low fat ... now it's shown that low fat is really bad for you. Lets get back to meat and two veg ... and nothing between meals!

Kidney function like so many things is immensely variable.Some years ago I was diagnosed with a low kidney function level and called in once a year for tests. Then the recall stopped. When I noticed and asked why, I was told that my kidney function was now back to normal levels. No explanation.

It may not be the salt, just normal kidney function variation.

Thanks NantheWiser, interesting article.
When we lived in Hongkong in the 70s-80s we were actually advised to take salt tablets in the hot & humid summer months to replace all the sodium lost through sweating.

Since 2006 I was told no salt at all because the kidneys were at stage 3 failure after having had an A-Fib episode.
Obviously I stuck to this with great difficulty over the years as everything was so bland as well as me reaching the point of paranoia looking at salt content in different foods. However this all came to a head not so long ago when I was having permanent dizzy spells until I realised that sodium was missing from my body so I began taking salt again ( within reason ) and gradually my dizziness disappeared and this years blood test for kidney function had improved on last year ! How can salt improve kidney disorders ? The mind boggles as it's the only different thing I've had since my previous readings since 2007 ??

What an eye opener! I've just read that low salt consumption is linked to insulin resistance and higher levels of cholesterol which would explain my borderline figures for both sugar and fats!

We used to give our ponies salt licks....they are the size of a house brick.

An interesting report, jane. I read a similar report in a newspaper article last year, and this is what Dr. Jason Fung says: medium.com/@drjasonfung/the-salt-scam-1973d73dccd, basically the same thing.
We do actually need salt in our diet, to keep electrolytes in balance, as is noticed in wild animals seeking out salt licks. Provided salt intake is not really excessive, it supports good health. Sea salt is preferable to table salt as it contains other minerals we need too.
Luckily, I have normal to low BP, so I'm not concerned about my salt intake, but actually use very little in cooking, and I don't eat much in the way of processed food (which can sometimes be loaded with salt), but I expect it will be a very long time before the salt myth is exploded in the medical profession.

Same with water, we are encouraged to drink more water, then we learn that we could be drinking too much water! And coffee and wine used to be bad for you, now they recommend it (in moderation of course) as teetotals have earlier mortality !

I also stopped salt for years and then after a blood test a few years ago the Doctor rang me up the night of the blood test (here in France) and told me to put more salt on my frites - I was off the bottom of the scale. Since then I have used it whenever I remember but am still borderline off the scale.
I still do not use it much in cooking and I think when you get used to having most food with little salt you notuce it in any bought food - I have tasted those funny crisp things children eat - and the salt is very high.

Here is Dr Malcolm Kendrick on the subject
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/drmalcolmkendrick.org/2014/05/13/salt-is-good-for-you/amp/
This is the take-home message if you don’t want to read the whole thing
“In reality, you can eat just about as much salt as you can stand – without harm. (Unless you have damaged kidneys and/or very high blood pressure)”

He thinks fats are good for you too.

Really? We haven't used salt in cooking for years because DH has high blood pressure. I only add it to a boiled egg, tomato and on the very odd occasion when we have fish and chips, nothing else. What is going to happen to me?

I don't think there is anything valuable in sugar but maybe we need some fats to stay healthy. Pretty sure there will be someone on here with the right expertise.