The body relies on this essential mineral for a variety of functions, including blood pressure and the transmission of nerve impulses. Sodium levels in the blood must be carefully maintained.

Savor this (pardon the pun): salt consumption may be useful in fighting obesity, the current obsession of the nattering class. If Mike has been encouraging people to gain weight by limiting salt consumption, he is undoing the work he did limiting soda servings to 16 ounces.

The point here is that "settled science" is an illusion, something all genuine scientists already know. Alas, genuine scientists are in short supply when it comes to public policy, where global warming regulation empowers governments in the name of "scientific consensus" and new soda taxes enrich cities while hitting low-income families the hardest.

As usual with genuine science, more research is required to discover the complexities of salt and metabolism:

"The work suggests that we really do not understand the effect of sodium chloride on the body," said Dr. Hoenig. "These effects may be far more complex and far-reaching than the relatively simple laws that dictate movement of fluid, based on pressures and particles." She and others have not abandoned their conviction that high-salt diets can raise blood pressure in some people. But now, Dr. Hoenig said, "I suspect that when it comes to the adverse effects of high sodium intake, we are right for all the wrong reasons."

In the meantime, I will enjoy my salty food for the right reason: it tastes better.