As rates for high blood pressure and implicitly for heart disease and stroke are dramatically rising among Americans, they are all recommended to reduce their salt consumption as much as they can.

According to a new report coming from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seven out of ten Americans need to limit sodium to 1,500 milligrams daily because their age, race or medical condition puts them at risk for heart disease and stroke. Currently Americans consume twice the amount, more exactly 3,436 milligrams of sodium on average.
 
“It is important for people to eat less salt. Reducing sodium intake can prevent or delay increases in blood pressure for everyone,” said Darwin R. Labarthe, director of the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.
 
For the report, the CDC researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which involved about 8,000 participants from 1999 and 2006.
 
The findings showed that 29 per cent of US adults had hypertension and a further 28 per cent had prehypertension in 2005-2006. Ingesting too much salt can lead to hypertension, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States.
 
How can you reduce sodium intake? The CDC recommends that people choose such fruits as fresh fruits and vegetables when eating out, ask that food be prepared without salt, and last but not least, read the nutrition label of foods before purchasing them.