January 13/Dallas/States News Service -- The American Heart Association issued a call to action for the public, health professionals, the food industry and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume daily.
In an advisory, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the association sets out the science behind the American Heart Associations recommendation for the general population, which is to consume no more than 1,500mg of sodium a day because of the harmful effects of sodium elevated blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease. Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) is a major public health problem; approximately 90% of all Americans will develop hypertension over their lifetime.