As Restaurants Cut Salt, Some See Reasons to Pass

[On the Road]

4. I Have Kept Asking About This

and have had a hard time getting a satisfying answer:

There is no evidence that average people — those without hypertension — need less sodium, critics say...

I keep hearing how salt in general is bad for you. Have not been able to find out why other than exacerbating a condition that most people don't have.

It seems increasingly that nutritional and health information has a manichean or moralistic element to it, in which things are "bad" or "good" regardless of individual needs and risks. Some people are allergic to wheat, so now gluten-free products are healthier for you. MSG gives some people headaches, so now MSG is "bad for you." Many people consume too much fat, so fat-free products are "good for you."

It's sometimes hard to dive below the generalizations and find out if there's any actual substance there.