Salt?

[expialidocious]

Salt intake and cardiovascular disease: why are the data inconsistent? Prospective cohort studies evaluating the association between sodium intake and CV outcomes have been inconsistent and a number of recent studies have reported an association between low sodium intake (in the range recommended by current guidelines) and an increased risk of CV death.

There are probably a thousand other articles I could quote that would say salt is simply bad. So I don’t know, maybe it tastes good for a good reason, and veg*ism supposedly lowers the risk of CV and other diseases for various reasons. Looking at another article about a plant-based diet and stroke, it may be more important to monitor one’s blood pressure than blindly obsessing about salt intake otherwise.

[expialidocious]

Well, otherwise there’s more than one salt (and the so-called salt substitute is potassium chloride, but it isn’t merely a flavor substitute)…

Dietary potassium deficiency, common in Western diets, raises blood pressure and enhances salt sensitivity

Compared to diets consumed by our evolutionary ancestors, the majority of people in the world today consume a diet relatively high in salt (NaCl) and low in potassium (K+). A high dietary sodium (Na+) to K+ ratio is associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality.—Potassium Modulates Electrolyte Balance and Blood Pressure

The Cardiovascular Benefit of a K±Rich Diet Is a Gift From Our Past

Early terrestrial animals, like hunter-gather groups, consumed diets with high K+ and very low Na+. To maintain extracellular fluid, animals evolved salt-retaining genes, including genes for salty food preference; once salt was commercialized by humans, salt-seeking behaviors drove very high NaCl consumption. Consequently, although our human physiology has been fine-tuned to handle high-K+, low-Na+ diets, typical Western diets contain far less K+ than Na+.—Potassium Homeostasis: The Knowns, the Unknowns, and the Health Benefits

Supposedly if people (without a risk of hyperkalemia due to existing health conditions) would eat at least as much salt substitute as they did salt, it would be a more balanced diet then. Maybe this explains to some extent why the first article had inconsistent data about the effects of sodium intake alone (because it also depends on potassium intake). That said, it isn’t something to get carried away with either, as the lethal dose of potassium is lower than that of sodium.

[AndyBa]

I think it’s better to get the potassium from the veggies. This way you know that you are eating enough of them.
I have never seen potassium salt and have no idea how it tastes.

[expialidocious]

Potassium chloride is kind of salty, yet has a bitter aftertaste by itself, and blends with sodium salt to neutralize that. It is a common ingredient in sports drinks, for electrolytes (which facilitate rehydration when combined with sugar and water).