Salt is essential to a healthy diet. We need about 1 g of salt a day. However, many of us consume about 10 g a day, ten times as much as we really need. A single dose of ten times that amount could be fatal! There is evidence that, for some people, too much salt can be a contributory factor to high blood pressure. Just how much is 'too much' varies from person to person. Prudent advice would be to reduce consumption to around 5 g per day.