Salt: Good or Bad? (Or Just Misunderstood Like Most Of Us)

Salt has had a chaotic PR career. One minute it’s the villain clogging arteries like a grease-loving burglar; the next it’s the hero rescuing your body from fainting on the kitchen floor. So… which is it?

The Problem Isn’t Salt. It’s Salt + Modern Life.

Your body actually needs sodium. Without it, your nerves misfire, your muscles sulk, and you start to feel like an under-seasoned soup.

The issue is that modern food manufacturers put salt into everything — including foods that have no business being salty (yes, we’re looking at you, breakfast cereals).

Where Salt Goes Wrong

You don’t get into trouble by sprinkling Maldon over your roasted sprouts like a civilised human.You get into trouble when:

• Your lunch came from a packet

• Your dinner came from a delivery driver

• Your snack came from “whatever was within reach in the cupboard”

  
  

  Because processed foods are salt mines in disguise.

A Useful Scrummy Rule: Season Your Food, Not Your Life

If you cook most of your meals, salt isn’t the enemy.

You control it.

You taste as you go.

You’re not accidentally consuming “one day’s recommended allowance” in a single lasagne.

How Much Is Actually Okay?

Public health guidelines say about 6g of salt a day (roughly a teaspoon).Scrummy guidelines say:

If you’re doing most of your cooking and not living off ready meals, you’re fine. If your meals come pre-salted by a factory, maybe check the label once in a while.

When to Pay Attention

• You have high blood pressure

• You eat a lot of packaged food

• You’ve started to suspect your favourite takeaway uses salt as a personality trait

Otherwise? Relax. Use the good flaky stuff. Enjoy your food.

The Takeaway

Salt isn’t “good” or “bad.”

It’s a tool.

Like a seatbelt, a calendar reminder, or hiding the biscuit tin on a high shelf — it works when you use it sensibly.

Season your food confidently.

Season your habits wisely.

And don’t let Instagram wellness prophets convince you your salt grinder is a weapon.