Controlling your salt shaker could help you prevent or control high blood pressure. You can cut your risk of developing high blood pressure — or help lower your blood pressure if it’s already high — by reducing the salt in your diet. In most people, blood pressure begins to decrease soon after sodium (salt) intake is reduced.
About 90 percent of children and adults in the United States eat too much sodium (salt). The average American consumes 3,300 mg of sodium per day, more than twice the recommended limit for most adults.
Anyone can benefit from cutting back on sodium consumption, not just people with hypertension. If Americans’ reduced their average sodium intake to an average 2,300 mg per day, 11 million cases of high blood pressure could be prevented every year. Reducing sodium intake even more would lead to even greater health benefits.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, May 21). “May is High Blood Pressure Month.” http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HighBloodPressure/