Best,
The topic of salt consumption is quite topical, whereby people mainly point out that it is better not to eat salt.
But isn’t it true that your body needs a certain amount (say a minimum)?
Can it hurt if you only add salt to your main meal?
Thank you
Answer
Dear Laura,
That you ‘better not eat salt’ is absolutely wrong: salt is vital for the body, as you yourself suspected. It is true that in the West most people ingest a lot of salt anyway, which is why it is often said ‘the less salt, the better’.
There is no official lower limit, but research does indicate that healthy people should not eat too little salt. The World Health Organization states that 5 g of salt per day is a healthy maximum amount (most Belgians are about double that). Some studies state that even 5 g is too little. Research is certainly needed, but roughly speaking, you can say that more than 8 g of salt per day does not seem good for you, and much less than 5 g per day is not necessarily healthier.
As is often the case, healthy living means: don’t overdo it. If you don’t have any health problems, you should not eat excessively low-salt.
Answered by
dr. ir. Jan Ronge
Bio-engineer. Electrocatalysis and renewable hydrogen production
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
.