The new research has been finding high sodium diet do not inherently cause high blood pressure and other related issues. What research is actually finding is:
The previous research that let us to believe high sodium was to blame, was correlational in nature and based on populations whose sodium intake came from lots of highly processed foods. That does not mean processed foods are bad for you but it does mean if their diets were largely made up of processed foods, odds are they were not getting a lot of fruits or veggies in their diet, likely were not exercising etc. In other words, they were not actively paying attention to their health.
New research is finding a sufficient potassium intake is all you need to counter any negative effects from high sodium. It is also much easier to eat more potassium-rich foods than it is to severely restrict sodium intake.
