Courtesy of Elaine Magee

When you hear the latest statistics and recommendations for sodium and hypertension, you are likely to go into sodium shock!

Three points say it all:

1. A diet high in sodium increases the risk of having high blood pressure, which is a major cause of the first and third leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease and stroke. As you can imagine, lowering sodium and blood pressure might help A LOT of people—16 million men and women have heart disease, and 5.8 million are estimated to have had a stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
2. More than two-thirds of American adults are in population groups that should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, according to a new CDC study. These population groups include persons with high blood pressure, African Americans, and people older than 40. What if you are not in one of these groups? Then the maximum recommended daily amount is 2,300 milligrams a day.
3. Most Americans consume more than double the amount of sodium recommended. The average intake of sodium for Americans age two years and older was 3,400 milligrams per day in 2005-2006, according to the CDC. This amount is shocking enough, but it may even be an underestimation of our true sodium intake because this figure comes from a national survey that did not include salt added at the table or during home cooking. The Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates that the actual average consumption of sodium is probably closer to 4,000 milligrams a day.