Ninety percent of Americans consume more sodium than recommended.

The majority of sodium we eat comes from processed foods and those prepared in restaurants. More than 40% comes from 10 types of food: breads, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes (not including macaroni and cheese), mixed meat dishes and salty snacks. The amount of sodium varies from one brand to another of the same food. The average American eats 3300 mg of sodium per day, while the recommended is 2300 mg. Six out of ten adults should limit it to 1500 mg a day.

PositiveTip: Reduce you sodium intake and lower your risk of stroke and heart disease.

Sugar-laden beverages may raise blood pressure.

Sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit juice may increase blood pressure according to British researchers who looked at 2,696 U.S. and U.K. participants. For each additional sugary beverage per day systolic blood pressure rose 1.6 mmHg and diastolic by 0.8 mmHg (p<0.001 for both). Perhaps these "empty calories" are displacing calories from the nutrient dense foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. More research is needed.

PositiveTip: None of us really need sugar-sweetened beverages for health. Drink plain water instead of that calorie dense beverage, and eat another serving of delicious fruit.

The majority of today's salt intake comes from restaurant and processed foods.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the amount of sodium added to foods.

A new IOM report has concluded that public health and education programs have failed to cut American's salt intake, and therefore the FDA should incrementally cut down the sodium content of the food supply in a way that goes unnoticed by most consumers.

PositiveTip: Start adjusting your taste sensors for salt by cutting back on processed foods and passing up the salt shaker! You might be surprised at how quickly you adjust.

Modest reductions in dietary salt could save 92,000 lives per year and save $24 billion!

Dietary salt intake in the U.S. in on the rise, in spite of more and more evidence linking salt intake to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Reducing salt intake by a modest 3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) per day per person is projected to annually reduce new cases of coronary heart disease by up to 120,000, stroke by up to 66,000, and heart attacks by up to 99,000. This in turn could save up to $24 billion each year in health care costs.

PositiveTip: The majority of dietary salt in the U.S. comes from processed foods. Stop subtracting years from your life by cutting back on these foods.

Got resistant hypertension? Maybe you should shun the salt shaker!

Resistant hypertension--elevated high blood pressure despite the use of three or more antihypetensive medications--is fairly common, and frustrating to both patient and physician. A small, randomized crossover trial of 12 such patents has demonstrated the effectiveness of a low-sodium diet. The low sodium diet had only 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the high sodium diet contained 7.5 teaspoons of salt. Systolic and diastolic pressures were significantly lowered by 22.7 mmHg and 9.1 mmHG, respectively, while on the low-sodium diet.

Pass on the salt shaker--it could save us all $18 billion per year!

Reducing the average intake of sodium in Americans' diets to the recommended amounts could save the nation $18 billion annually in avoided health care costs and improve the quality of life for millions according to new research conducted by the RAND Corporation. If all Americans met the national sodium guidelines 11 million cases of high blood pressure could be eliminated. In addition, the researchers estimated that meeting sodium consumption guides would save 312,000 quality adjusted life years each year. This is a research measurement that adjusts increased longevity for the relative healthiness experienced during additional years of life.

If it is deep yellow, you probably need to drink more water!

Hyponatremia is a condition where the sodium levels in our body are too low, allowing water to cause our cells to swell. This can result in coma or even death! There are different causes for hyponatremia, one of them is drinking too much water. We hear many messages about the importance of drinking water, but some people have taken it too far. Certainly, if you don’t drink enough water it could kill you--and if you drink too much water it could kill you.