The chloride in salt may be important for health, according to a new study.
The sodium part of salt has long been blamed for high blood pressure.
But researchers in Scotland have found that patients with high blood pressure and low chloride levels have increased death rates.
The Glasgow University researchers studied the fate of nearly 13,000 patients for their research, published in the journal Hypertension.
They found those with the lowest levels of chloride in the blood had a 20% greater death rate than others.
Researcher Dr Sandosh Padmanabhan said high levels of chloride seemed to protect health.
He said: "Sodium is cast as the villain for the central role it plays in increasing the risk of high blood pressure, with chloride little more than a silent extra in the background.
"However, our study has put the spotlight on this under-studied chemical to reveal an association between low levels of chloride serum in the blood and a higher mortality rate, and surprisingly this is in the opposite direction to the risks associated with high sodium.
"It is likely that chloride plays an important part in the physiology of the body and we need to investigate this further."
He added: "It is too early to draw any conclusions about relating this finding to salt intake and diet. We need more research to establish exactly what the relationship between chloride and health risk is."
Hypertension 26 August 2013; doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.01793 [abstract]
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