Salt is a necessary and important mineral to maintain proper water and electrolyte balance. The government recommendations for daily intake are 1000mg for children and 1200-1500mg for adults. To give you an idea of how much salt this is; 1 teaspoon of salt is about 2400mg of sodium or 6 grams.
In fact though, the body only requires about 0.5 grams or 200mg for biological function in the body but 1-2 grams is a safe amount of salt to consume because we lose salt when we perspire, urinate, vomit or have diarrhea.
Prepacked and processed foods contain far too much salt which contribute to high blood pressure and stress on the kidneys. They should not be consumed for a variety of reasons-high sodium just being one of them.
Sodium is found in whole foods and does not need to be added to foods because we get enough from beef, poultry, seafood, celery, beets, carrots, artichokes and sea vegetables like kelp.
If you do want to indulge in a saltier taste purchase kelp flakes to add to your food or Celtic sea salt. Sea salt should not be white; it is brown, pink etc. If it is white, it has been bleached! Sea salt also contains 84 trace minerals as opposed to table salt which contains almost none because most of the minerals have been lost in the refining process and contains anti-caking agents. Try adding fresh herbs for taste too to replace your salt shaker!