Salt Intake and Salt Need

Abstract

IN medieval England, salt was so precious that to be placed "above the salt" at table was a mark of favor and rank.¹ By contrast, in modern society a household must be wretched indeed in which the low-liest individual cannot add salt to every mouthful of food. This widespread use of salt has received surprisingly little attention from nutritionists: indeed, in most nutritional surveys salt is not mentioned or is noted only in passing.² Because of the increasing evidence that salt ingestion is related to the development of hypertension in human beings^{3 4 5 6 7} there is need for a general assessment of . . .