> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lynnet Bannion
...
> metabolism.  The paleolithic people's salt trade routes were very
> extensive.
> In Europe, cities were built near salt mines, because of the wealth
> that
> could be made from salt (ex. Salzburg).  

Wouldn't extensive salt trade routes and cities be Neolithic rather than
Paleolithic? And wasn't salt so valuable in years past because it was
relatively scarce (and therefore less available to be consumed) until
technological progress expanded salt mining to the point where salt became a
cheap (plentiful) commodity that could then be consumed in large quantities
by many people?

The Inuit of the Arctic and the Yanomamo of the Amazon at the time of
European contact were not adding any salt to their diet (I believe the
Yanomamo have the lowest average serum sodium levels ever measured of a
people). The Yanomamo's low salt intake was offset by low levels of salt
excretion in their urine.

While my blood pressure has never been high and therefore my concern about
salt has also never been very high, my personal experience conforms with
what Ray Audette said--that as "a hunter gatherer your taste for salt should
diminish." Nowadays I find most salted foods to be way too salty, but I do
add sea salt once in a while to unsalted foods. I just don't have that big
of a desire for salt or salty foods. However, some desire for salt is
natural.

Meats naturally contain sufficient salt for the needs of a "normal"
individual, but, as Kathryn and others mentioned, it depends on your
individual needs. I think the main problem nowadays that Audette, Cordain,
et al talk about is the extremely high salt intake of people who eat
processed foods.