Links to high blood pressure and heart disease have created a fear of salt and encouraged a craze with low sodium diets. But is salt really something you need to worry about?

High blood pressure and heart disease are mostly a result of damaged arteries that are inflexible due to inflammation and scar tissue. Salt is just one tiny aspect of the much broader lifestyle choices that cause this. Furthermore, not all salts are created equal. The risks commonly associated with salt are highly dependent on it’s quality.

Refined Table Salt

The finely ground pure white salt that you commonly see in grocery stores and restaurants is highly refined and processed. As such, it contains chemical toxins, free radicals, and denatured nutrients that cause cell damage and malfunction. Artery problems are just one example of what can result. While refined table salt is definitely something you should avoid, this alone isn’t going to eliminate the risk factors of high blood pressure and heart disease.

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