Like most nutrition, we see a split of opinion of what’s good and bad, enough and not enough. Salt is one of those, but it makes me wonder about tribal people and how much they consume.
Although I’m going to fail to give you a citation or details, James Neel did some (highly controversial) work among Yanomamo hunter gatherers of South America, and I particularly remember that he looked at sodium levels at and after “contact”. (“Contact” in quotes because the concept is questionable, of course). He found that sodium levels in blood were extremely low at contact and shot up after contact and exposure to industrial food products. Hopefully this is a lead you can follow up on at least.
This is such a loaded topic because as I’m sure you’re aware there’s a war between the Keto And the vegan groups, each using information to attack the other group.
Eating low-carb requires higher salt, so it is used as a weapon against them. I sense that the question is really asking how much salt should we eat? I think it’s something you must feel for yourself, each person.
In all our hunter gatherer evolution,, I’m not sure we had ready access to salt, maybe if we live by the sea. But no carnivorous animal add salt.
Very interesting question
People talk a lot about how we’ve evolved. But let’s be clear: Evolution is only about reproducing. Once you get past reproduction, evolution doesn’t have any impact. So a diet that hunter-gatherers consume tells you nothing about heart disease or cancer or other long-term disease that tend to show up later in life.
For example, Masai warriors (some) consume a diet of blood, milk and red meat only. This is not healthy. By the age of 40 most have pretty advanced atherosclerosis. They are protected to some degree by their active lifestyle which leads to large, flexible arteries that are able to withstand a lot of blockage. But the average lifespan of a Masai warrior is 42 years for me, 44 for women, simply because of how they live. The most common causes of death are AIDS, TB, pneumonia and diarrhea.
The traditional Inuit diet, likewise, contains a lot of mammal meat and fat. Their heart disease tracks along with the average American (which is substandard, for sure).
The goal of evolution is reproduction, not long life. Life expectancies in developed countries today, are WAY past those of tribal people.
Tribal people didn’t consume salt. They got minerals from Whole Foods. Weston A price studied many tribes in the 1900s and found that the healthiest tribes ate high amounts of animal products. He stated that tribes that didn’t have access to animal products near them would literally go out of there way to find animal products. Organ meats were the most highly prized food alongside raw honey. He has some great books on his findings.