... salt never existed?

What is the worst for every cook? Probably, preparing a five-star-menu and not having anything that spices up the food and gives it the right flavor for perfecting it. But not only professional chefs would become desperate without our most important seasoning – the salt -, also the rest of us human beings would most likely miss this important condiment very much in our everyday – life.

In this episode of “What if…” we want to create the scenario you may already know from the Grimm- fairytale “The princess of salt” that tells about the absence of salt. Certainly, we will take a closer look on possible consequences.

Well, the most obvious effect is surely that nothing would taste good anymore. Pretzel sticks, steaks, vegetable stews and cheese sandwiches – all those different kinds of nourishment would not tingle on our tongues; no appealing flavor would make our meals to a unique enjoyment, when there is not even a dash of salt in it. We would perceive just a pale, monotonous taste in our mouths.  Unfortunately, this spice is not replaceable, either.

Furthermore, we would not only loose the feeling of our mouth starting to water – it would even be worse! Salt is a very significant mineral bounded in our bones, circulating in our blood and tissue water.  Without it, our cells would not be viable, our organs would not work and the water household in our body would be disturbed, because the essential osmosis for water regulation and pressure compensation between our cells and outside would collapse. A lack of salt which is too high means also an immense loss of liquid and nutrients that we need to survive.

Of course, it is also important to regulate your salt consumption a little bit for living healthy: Possibly, eating too much of this spice leads to a high blood pressure.