Salt Consumption and Your Heart

Pass the Salt?

We have all met someone who puts salt on every food, "whether it needs it or not!"  Why?--because it is one of those spices that gets our juices flowing.  Unfortunately, too much of a good thing is bad for us.
In a Manhattan study of over 2,500 people for almost a ten year period, only one-third of those studied were within the recommended U.S. Dietary Guidelines for daily sodium intake, which is 2,300 mg, or about a teaspoon of salt.  Only 12% of those studied met the American Heart Association's recommendation of 1,500mg per day.
After researchers adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, alcohol use, exercise, daily caloric intake, smoking status, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and previous heart disease, they found that stroke risk increased 16% for every 500 mg of sodium consumed a day.
Sources: American Heart Association, NOMAS

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309