Their leaves smell rather like pine, so they were often used to clear the air, either by strewing them on floors, or by burning the berries on a fire as the Swiss used to do. In cookery they are used with game and duck, and go well with garlic, onions, thyme, sage, oregano, bay leaves and allspice.
On average, adults in the UK eat about 8.1g of salt (3.2g sodium) a day. This may not sound like much, but to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, it is recommended that adults should not be eating more than 6g of salt (2.4g sodium) a day. Salt intakes should be much lower than this for babies and children. Babies under 12 months old should have less than 1g of salt a day. The daily recommended maximum amount of salt children should eat depends on their age: 1  1 to 3 years â 2g of salt a day (0.8g sodium). 2  4 to 6 years â 3g of salt a day (1.2g sodium). 3  7 to 10 years â 5g of salt a day (2g sodium).
Therefore, you need to ingest salt on a daily basis, but you also need to know how much to consume, as a sodium overdose could be hazardous to your health. Your body needs at least 500 mg of salt a day, and you shouldn't exceed 2,300 mg a day if you're a healthy adult. However, if you suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease, the maximum daily consumption of sodium lowers to 1,500 mg a day. Here are some signs that you're ingesting too much sodium: