Our bodies need salt. Salt also adds taste to our food. However, too much salt in your diet may lead to high blood pressure. The World Health Organization recommends 5 grams of salt in your diet every day. But the world average is 10.8 grams. A recent report, a part of the national non-communicable disease monitoring survey, states that Indian men consume 8.9 grams, and Indian women take in 7.1 grams of salt on a daily basis (Prashant Mathur et al., Scientific Reports, 2023)
Studies in animals, as well as surveys in humans have consistently shown that high salt intake causes disease in the kidney, brain, vasculature, and immune system. High levels of sodium in the diet are also associated with conditions ranging from kidney stones to osteoporosis. It is estimated that excessive salt contribution contributes to around five million deaths worldwide every year.
The Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforest live a foraging lifestyle and eat a diet consisting of the root vegetable Cassava, plantains, fruit, fish and an occasional tapir. They use peppers for flavour, and no salt. They consume less than one gram of salt a day yet stay supremely fit.
