Everyone is talking about the consumption of salt. In large-scale marketing campaigns, leading supermarket chains announce that they want to reduce the amount of salt contained in many products.

Is it just a marketing strategy or actually beneficial to a scientifically proven healthy diet? 

For years it has been the subject of controversial debate in science. Two important institutions on this topic are the world health institution (WHO) and the DGE (German Association for Nutrition). They recommend a daily intake of 5 to 6 g which equates  to a teaspoon of salt. This recommendation results from the fact  that a high intake of sodium chloride (salt) leads to an increased accumulation of liquid in the body. Trying to counter the process the body's blood pressure rises. High blood pressure can cause many cardiovascular diseases such as an increased risk of stroke or heart attack, cardiovascular stiffness, cardiac insufficiency, etc. According to the WHO, reducing the daily intake of salt to the recommended 5g can decrease the risk of stroke by 24% and the risk of coronary heart disease by 18%. All other related cardiovascular diseases can also be prevented. 

But does the principle "the less, the better" also apply to the consumption of salt? 

That is much too sweeping a statement. A study with 101.905 participants from 19 different nations has revealed  that a very small  intake of under 2g of salt per day negatively impacted the participants' cardiovascular health. But an intake of under 2g also requires a special low salt diet. In practice, the average German woman consumes 8.4g and the average German man 10g of salt. According to this data an insufficient intake of salt is highly unlikely. 

Everybody can imagine that the chips one likes to snack on at night have a very high salt content (1.2g per 100g). As a consumer one is probably not aware that typical products from the super market belong to the food products with the highest salt content (1g per 100g). Therefore, reducing the amount of salt in food products favors the overall goal of improving the population's health.