Most of us are familiar with the praise ‘a pinch of salt’, or in Latin cum grano salis, which refers to the discovery by the ancient Roman general Pompey as an antidote for poison.

But in our food, do we really need salt to enhance the taste?

Adding table salt to your food may increase your risk of stomach cancer by over 40 percent, a new study shows. Experts explain the findings and how to lower your risk.

A new study might make people think twice before reaching for the salt shaker. Nutritionists from the Center for Public Health at the University of Vienna discovered that people from the United Kingdom who added salt to most of their meals were 41 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than those who used the topping sparingly.

And previous studies in China, Japan and South Korea have linked a salty diet to stomach cancer.

Though the Austrian study was merely observational, older studies have suggested that excess salt might erode the protective coating on the stomach, causing damage to the tissue there and leading to cancerous mutations.

For many people, the amount of salt you’re supposed to eat might come as a surprise. The FDA recommends that people should eat no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily—that’s about one teaspoon of table salt.

But because many food items contain more salt than people realize, and because they like to add salt on top of that, the average person gets about 3,400 mg daily.

For example, one packet of the ordinary beef or chicken instant noodle coup contains almost 800 mg of sodium or salt. It might seem harmless to add a little sprinkle for flavor, but consistently overdoing your salt could be harmful.