Guidelines may have caused more heart disease

the body storing more fat, particularly in the organs, which in turn promotes insulin resistance. Once again, weight gain results.

Plus, low-salt diets increase the risk of overall dehydration. That’s a problem because well-hydrated cells consume less energy.

Dehydrated cells leave you feeling exhausted, which encourages you to consume more calories — which are immediately translated into weight gain.

Exercise now seems unappealing. Your body cannot access its stored energy and so the brain switches into conservation mode, trying to hang on to every calorie.

Even though weight is piling on, every function in the body is behaving as though it’s fighting to survive a full-scale famine.

So how much salt should you be eating? Many healthy people needn’t worry about overloading. The body takes care of any excess. Research suggests the optimal range for healthy adults is between 3g and 6g of sodium a day — about one-and-a-third to two-and-twothirds of a teaspoon of salt.

Listen to your body. It has a built-in ‘salt thermostat’, an interconnected set of brain sensors that monitor sodium supplies in an effort to avoid activating those starvation hormones.

And your brain would much prefer that you simply eat salt rather than having to scavenge it from vulnerable parts of the body.

So next time you feel a craving for salt, do yourself a favour and give in to it. Your body says these things for a reason.

Drop the guilt — not the salt.