@PaulL Check out the discussion I linked above between Passwater and Moore. Moore’s assertion is that our paleolithic ancestors consumed far less sodium and much more potassium from all food sources. Consequently, they had a much higher K:Na ratio than currently. In fact, his argument is that humans evolved in a low sodium and high potassium environment and that elevated sodium causes many health issues.
From this study I linked above:
…This effect of the Western diet is not solely attributed to high sodium content but rather the dramatically decreased dietary potassium-to-sodium ratio. In industrialized countries, the daily intakes of potassium and sodium are ≈30 to 50 and 80 to 250 mmol per day, respectively. This is in sharp contrast with isolated or primitive societies, having the daily rates of 150 to 290 mmol for potassium and 20 to 40 mmol per day for sodium.5 Therefore, estimated potassium-to-sodium intake ratios range from 0.12 to 0.63 for industrialized societies and 3.8 to 14.5 for isolated societies. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, only about one tenth of US adults have potassium-to-sodium intake ratios consistent with the World Health Organization guidelines for reduced risk of mortality.6