How to know if you're getting too much salt in your diet

Salt is stocked in almost every household in the country and added liberally to our food, yet this everyday condiment is also one of the leading causes of death worldwide

Excess salt is linked to hypertension or high blood pressure — the leading cause of heart attack and stroke worldwide

Archaeological evidence suggests that humans first started using salt to brine, pickle, and preserve food as far back as 6,000BC. We have developed a taste for it in the millennia since then, and now most of us use it liberally at every mealtime to boost the flavour of our food.

A combination of the minerals sodium and chloride, salt’s taste is innately appealing, possibly because our bodies need it to function.