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In ancient times, salt was literally worth its weight in gold, as African and European explorers would trade an ounce of salt for an ounce of gold.
Roman soldiers were also paid in salt, hence the modern word "salary" (sal is the Latin word for salt) and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt."
Far from being harmful, high-quality salt is actually essential for life, but in the United States and many other developed countries salt has been vilified as a primary cause of high blood pressure and heart disease.
These latter claims have failed to be proven conclusively, as have the purported benefits of a low-salt diet.
Now the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is trying to set the record straight, and has warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that further plans for salt restriction pose a serious threat to human health.
