Rachel Matesz wrote (quoting Sproek's book, p. 37): > The presence of hydrochloric acid in gastric juices (which of course is generated from salt) may be purely indicental to the use of salt in food and may be unnecessary for the digestion process. On the other hand, excessive amounts of the acid (any strong acid for that matter) in the digestive tract can lead to hyperacidity and many other serious health problems." I hope the book doesn't give the impression that hydrochloric acid in the stomach serves no purpose. It serves the very important purpose of sterilizing whatever enters the stomach. People with inadequate stomach acid (for example, from eating too many antacid tablets) are more susceptible to problems like Giardia. I don't know that this has anything to do with salt intake, however.