Common Salt, table salt, sodium chloride etc. these are the various names salt is known by. Salt is a compound made up of Sodium and chlorine hence the name Sodium chloride (Nacl). When dissolved in water sodium chloride yields sodium in the body and found in extracellular fluids. Common salt is obtained mainly sea water. To recover common salt, sea water is run into lagoons and allowed to evaporate. The sun’s heat evaporates water and crude common salt is left behind.

Salt is required by the body the body because it serves some functions in the body: it is important for the maintenance of red blood cells and helps proteins to dissolve, help retain water in the body and maintain water balance, sodium ions help transport substances across cell membranes, it also plays a part in the electrical activity of heart. It is an important component of blood plasma and plays an important role in the acid-base balance of the body.

There is some salt present naturally in the foods we eat which under normal circumstances is more than enough to meet the required needs of the body, every pinch we put in our soups, stews and other foods is just excess and the body most times gets rid of it.

Harmful Effects of Common Salt
i. Salt is a stimulant: It stimulates sympathetic Nervous System and adrenal glands and creates stress arousal. That’s why it comes under the category of stress food.

ii. High blood pressure: Excessive salt causes water retention in the body and increases the blood volume and cardiac output resulting in high blood pressure. Considerable fall in B.P> is observed with reduction in dietary salt intake in Hypertension.

iii. Weakening of bones: Eating too much salt can pull calcium from bones making them weak (osteoporosis). More calcium is also excreted in the urine with the ingestion of more table salt.

iv. Effect on Kidneys: excess salt puts a heavy burden on kidneys because they have to work harder to remove excess salt. Hence, they gradually weaken. Kidneys can’t remove more than 4-5 gm of salt per day, remaining salt gives rise to ailments in the body.

v. Increase in weight: excess salt in the body increases the weight of the body because; kidneys eliminate excess salts from the body by filtering out the sodium that makes up part of the salt compound. In case the kidneys work less efficiently, more sodium is retained in the body. Since the kidneys are geared to maintaining a fixed proportion of sodium to water in the blood, excess salt in the body means excess water too and hence weight of the body.

vi. Worsening of Edema: Salt makes edema worse and should be avoided in all edematous states whether due to liver, kidney or endocrine diseases.

vii. Hardening of Arteries: Table salt is not completely soluble in water and tends to harden the arteries by its excessive use. For good health, that salt is required which is completely soluble in water.

viii. Salt increases uric acid: excess salt interferes with the elimination of certain wastes of the system like uric acid and therefore contributes indirectly to various diseases like gout etc.

ix. Bronchial and Lung problems: Deficiency of organic sodium in table salt results in bronchial and lung problems because organic sodium is required for the elimination of CO2 from the system.

Better Substitutes for Table Salt

i. The salt in fruits and vegetables is organic in nature and loosely covalently bonded,unlike Nacl, and can be easily utilized by the body. In fact, whatever amount of salt is needed by the body is already provided by the natural foods we take daily.

ii. Rock salt is considered better than table salt. Rock salt deposits are found in some mountainous regions. Salt is dug out from the deposits. Rock salt has been found to be completely soluble in water and the body enzymes can make good use of it thereof.
Rock Salt

iii. Black salt is also considered better than ordinary salt because it (black salt) is organic in nature.

iv. When the doctor tells you (especially high B.P. patients) to reduce salt intake, he is talking about sodium. So, potassium salt is recommended. Such salts are readily available in Nigerian markets although are costlier.
Source: http://poadafitness..com/2013/12/dangers-of-common-salt.html