Recently, it is evident that the fear of salt is in retreat in the Lifestyle Medicine community, sometimes quietly, sometimes more noisily. Pam Popper has been arguing for a while that the fear of salt was not warranted, but I have my doubts about some of her sources. However, T. Colin Campbell has actively made an effort to steer clear of the extremes. Too much salt can be a problem, but not enough salt is a problem too. However with increasing experience, I find it easier all the time to avoid the extremes. I have written about all the ways of creating umami flavor, mostly with herbs and spices, sometimes with processes. Laterly, one of my ongoing discoveries is black garlic, which not only is extremely healthy, but eliminates the need for many potential sources of salt, like bouillon (even if it is vegetable bouillon), Braggs Amino Acids, Tamari and Shoyu, and so on. Many of those flavor makers contain salt. However some salty ingredients, such as some fermented products are extremely healthy. I see no reason to avoid them the more I find that I don’t need salt in many other places.
One of my favorite sources of medical information has become the substack of A Midwestern Doctor, and he recently posted a very well researched article on salt, and I post it here, as it might help many people avoid the Sodium Hysteria that prevails in parts of the plant-based community, and which at times I have been part of myself.
A Midwestern Doctor, The Hidden Secrets of Salt.
On the whole, the biggest problem of the plant-based community is that the AMA still has too much sway. That needs to change. A whole foods, plant-based lifestyle should be the default. Because of the incessant, and completely Newtonian reductionist reasoning any nutritional research outside of that should be adequately qualified, for most reports loose sight of the forest over a single tree.
In short, I can safely enjoy my favorite corn on the cob, Nero Wolfe style, but with a Mexican flourish, using Tajin and a green hot sauce with habaneros. I call it Winning Corn on the Cob.