Why should we avoid sodium and salt in diet?

My wife has high blood pressure. Sodium affects it negatively.

Yes, salt causes water retention, which is frustrating on the scale, but it does much more than that. Your body needs a certain balance of sodium and potassium (among other things) to work properly. Pretty much every cell in your body relies on this balance. If you consume too much sodium, your body must draw extra water into the blood stream (water retention) to balance things out. This increases your blood volume and puts more stress on your entire cardiovascular system - heart included. Because of this, a high sodium diet can make you prone to high blood pressure, which then contributes to a whole host of other problems. A huge domino effect.

Some salt is essential for our bodies to function - but we really only need about 500 mg/day - most of us can get that without even trying!

bump*accountantboi*. Nice post. One must figure out your their specific needs. I'd just want to add that some studies show (in trained subjects (ie. atheletes) increased levels of sodium are acceptable basically due to the increased activity level. I myself lift hard and heavy and have found 2500-3500mg sodium keeps my body happy. Note, none of my sodium comes from salting my food etc..

Thanks ppl you guys r awesome !! :) one more question...i read somewhere that artificial.sweeteners cause the body to get dense, is that a myth? Can i use artificial sweetener in my tea without negatively affecting my health? Thanks !!

There is no definitive answer on this. Some people claim that artificial sweeteners are horrible for you and others say that they're perfectly healthy. There's no direct scientific evidence for either side.