The study followed 3,681 middle-aged Europeans who did not have high blood pressure or heart disease at the start of the study. The heart disease risk in the low consumption group was 56% higher in the low salt group. What they concluded was that the less salt the participants ate, the more likely they would die from heart disease.

“There is no disagreement that high blood pressure (even moderately high) is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” say the Griesels. “However, salt consumption does not seem to have the same effect on everyone. In addition, there is usually no distinction on the type of salt used.

There are many naturally harvested salts that also contain many trace minerals, which undoubtedly have an effect. Medical literature on salt consumption (like many other things) is inconsistent.”

The main take away from all this is the importance of knowing what your blood pressure is and making an effort to do whatever is necessary to have consistent readings in the healthy range of 120/70 or less. If you are a person who is sensitive to salt consumption, a reduction is definitely needed or perhaps even a switch to a natural alternative like sea salt might help. But beware of hidden salt.

The biggest source of salt in our diet is the refined and processed foods purchased at the grocery store along with food served in restaurants, particularly fast-food which amounts to about 75% of salt consumption for the average person