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).
If you have high blood pressure you should get no more than 1,500 milligrams per day, and the limit drops even lower if you have kidney or liver problems. A single dash of table salt contains about 150 milligrams of sodium.