Should I worry about salt?

[Dastardly]

I dont really even eat much fast food but am finding it very difficult to "eat like a man" without possibly tripling the Govt. recommended allowance.

All the most convenient protein/fat rich foods are laden with epic amounts of salt. Things like:

Cheese
Smoked Fish
Dried fish/meats
Fried Chicken
Burgers
Canned Fish

Cheese & smoked/canned fish is my main source of supplementary calories & protein at the moment (in addition to proper meals). And both are extremely salty. Smoked fish is so damn salty is feels like one piece is poison, but I could easily eat 3 fillets. Cheese is also incredibly salty and potentially worrying in the quantities I am eating. I also find it impossible to eat eggs without a fair bit of salt.

I eat a lot of peanut butter too, but have found a salt-free one.

Those of you who eat a lot of fast food or processed food. Like Burgers & canned meats must be getting even more salt than me. It would be quite easy to consume 5x times the reccomendation on a decent training diet.

I was just wondering how worried we should be about this? How harmful is salt? I dont even like salt that much and would prefer that most of this stuff was unsalted, but it is impossible to find low-salt cheese or smoked fish. This kind of eating is likely to build a taste-dependence too I imagine.

[PVC]

You shouldn't worry about the salt intake if you're drinking a gallon of milk a day.

Total sodium intake by itself is unimportant. What is important is the ratio of sodium : potassium and the ratio of sodium:water that you're taking in. If you're drinking GOMAD then you're getting enough water and potassium.

Edit: However, I buy low-sodium food variations when I can do so with minimal effort. For example, I always buy bacon with 50% reduced sodium because it's readily available in my supermarket (must be a fad).

[Dastardly]

Not doing GOMAD as my gut can only handle 1 pint per day without self-destructing.

I may start eating fruit again if this potassium thing is important. I used to eat a lot of bananas but stopped when I realised I already eat probably twice the amount of carbs than anyone else here.

[coreJack]

There are better ways of reducing carb intake than cutting back on bananas. Why not just eat less rice/pasta/bread?

I don't worry about salt, but then again, I get plenty of potassium and drink lots of water. They also have salts that are potassium - though the taste is quite different; you'd never add just this to a dish, but you could use 3/4 of the sodium salt amount you'd normally use, and use 1/4 potassium salt.

[Rorschach]

A man needs his electrolytes.
As long as you're not adding salt to everything, staying hydrated, and steering clear of ready meals etc, you should be fine.