Do you think salt is a necessary part of our diet?

You’re kidding right? You will die of you don’t get enough. Salt has what humans crave, its got electrolytes.

Yes. Go without and see what happens.

The fact that low-sodium diets are common but I have never heard of a no-sodium diet suggest it’s necessary.

The body requires sodium and potassium in order for the muscles to function. Too little/much of one or the other and your muscles, including the heart, cannot contract/relax like they should (now you know why potassium is used to stop the heart in executions).

^^Yep, All your muscles, including the heart muscle. Heart contractions, or the ability to pump blood throughout the system, are stimulated by electric shocks from a chemical battery known as the Sodium-Potassium pump. An imbalance of either chemical can initiate a significant cardiac event. One of the dangers of dehydration is precisely this: When the body sweats, it releases life-sustaning electrolytes, including Sodium and Potassium, and if these are not replenished in a timely manner, sayonara pal.

As always, @ARE_you_kidding_me, you’re way off the mark in your assessment.

Plants crave electrolytes, not humans.

I was using the period correct assesment.

@ARE_you_kidding_me your response, “You’re kidding right? ” suggests you didn’t read the details.

The sal in salary is Latin for salt. Here is the complete story.

Interesting @LostInParadise! Thank you for sharing.

@Dutchess_III Salt? No, but sodium is one of our vital electrolytes.

Interesting

@Darth_Algar in today’s world it would almost be impossible to go without salt.

I did, not sure what you were wanting us to say here since you already knew the answer. I mean everyone knows Brawndo is the thirst mutilator.

If you don’t get enough salt your brain cells will swell up and press against your skull causing increased intracranial pressure. Which in turn can cause brain damage and kill you.So yeah I think salt is kind of important :)

@Dutchess_III

That may be, but the question wasn’t about the likelihood of going without it.

Absolutely. No nacl, no life. Most basic IV fluid is 0.9 % nacl.

I just responded to your comment, “Try going with out it,” @darth. I wonder if anyone really got all freaked out about salt and really tried to cut it out of their life, and managed to succeed, and I wonder what happened? I’ll Google.
I’m reminded of a time when my daughter cut the inside of her mouth when she was little. A day or two later a friend asked us to stay for dinner. It was stir fry, with some sauce from a store-bought bottle.
I said, “Remember, she can’t have salt because it hurts her mouth.”
My friend said, very sanctimoniously, “Oh, I don’t cook with salt at all!” (She went on tangents like that. She also believes in the 3 second rule.)
I said, “Well, the sauce you’re getting ready to pour over it has a ton of salt in it.”
She stopped just in time and this look came over her face and she checked the ingredients. She was shocked. She hadn’t even thought about it.
So we pulled food out for my daughter, then put sauce over the rest.

Yes

Well apparently I can’t flag odts from my phone.