Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States and high blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart disease. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 34 percent of adults in the U.S. have hypertension and 36 percent of U.S. adults have prehypertension, meaning their blood pressure is higher than normal. Your sodium intake can affect your blood pressure. Therefore, if you have hypertension, limit your sodium intake to help lower your numbers.
Dietary Guidelines 2010
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 encourages all Americans to limit dietary sodium consumption to less than 2,300 mg per day, and less than 1,500 mg per day for those who currently have high blood pressure. The same source notes that currently, the estimated U.S. average intake of sodium for people ages 2 and older is 3,400 mg per day.
DASH Diet
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH, diet is an eating plan that can help lower high blood pressure levels. The DASH diet encourages Americans to limit sodium intake to 2,300 mg or less per day to help lower high blood pressure and limit sodium to 1,500 mg or less per day to help lower high blood pressure even more. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also notes that in addition to limiting your dietary sodium intake, maintain a healthy body weight, exercise regularly, consume a potassium-rich diet and limit alcohol consumption to help lower high blood pressure.
Limit Sodium
Limit or avoid high-sodium foods to help reduce your daily sodium intake and help lower high blood pressure. High-sodium foods include salted nuts and seeds, table salt, soy sauce, canned vegetables with salt added, vegetable juice, canned beans, cheese, pizza, canned and cured meats, other cured, processed or pickled foods, snack foods such as potato chips and many prepared frozen dinners. Check your food labels to help limit your sodium consumption, and choose fresh or low-sodium foods, such as unsalted nuts and seeds, when available.
DASH Plan
A sample DASH eating plan provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture includes the following: six serving of grains, four to five servings of vegetables, four to five servings of fruits, two to three servings of low-fat milk products, six servings or less of lean meats, poultry or fish, two to three servings of fats and oils, 2,300 mg of sodium or less per day or 1,500 mg per day for additional blood pressure reduction, four servings per week of nuts, seeds and legumes, and five servings or less per week of sweets and added sugars.
