Salt Our bodies need salt (sodium chloride) to survive. This ubiquitous mineral is essential for digestion, respiration, and maintaining the body’s electrolyte balance.
A Dab’ll Do Ya North Americans are eating too much salt, reports the American Medical Association (AMA). The largest group of doctors in the US says it wants to help combat heart disease by cutting the average person’s salt intake in half and placing warning labels on high-sodium foods.
Salts of Earth and Sea Salt may be as important to health as those eight glasses of water we should drink each day. Sound far-fetched? Well, natural sea salt—evaporated from seawater—contains numerous minerals that are as essential to health as water.
A Pinch of Salt It lurks in many surprising places: that half cup of cottage cheese you had with lunch; the mayonnaise, tuna fish, and bread of your sandwich—even your breakfast cereal.