Some people are "salt sensitive" which means that consumption of salt can increase their blood pressure. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is an important risk factor for both heart attack and stroke. People who are more sensitive to sodium include: • People with kidney disease. • People of African descent. • People with a family history of high blood pressure. • People over age 50. For years, there has been controversy over whether salt (sodium chloride) in the diet can cause high blood pressure. Now, new guidelines from the American Heart Association state that a high intake of salt does adversely affect blood pressure. Reducing salt in the diet can prevent high blood pressure in those at risk for the disease and can help control high blood pressure in elderly people. By reducing sodium in their diets, elderly people may be able to stop taking blood pressure medication. African-Americans, older adults, and people with diabetes may benefit most from lowering their dietary sodium intake. Otherwise, there's no way to know if you're salt sensitive other than putting yourself on a low-sodium diet and seeing what effect that has on your blood pressure To reduce salt and sodium in your diet: Eat less than 2.4 g(2,400 mg) of sodium or approximately 6 g( ) of sodium chloride (salt) per day (check food labels for the amount of sodium per serving). The American Heart Association recommends that sodium intake should be less than 2.4 grams per day, which is about 1¼ teaspoons of salt. Eat a diet that includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, and legumes. Most of these foods do not contain sodium. Watch for hidden sodium in foods. Monosodium glutamate, disodium phosphate, and other ingredients in foods contain sodium. Check the label. Look for products that say "low sodium," which must contain less than 140 mg( ) of sodium per serving. Limit fast foods and prepackaged foods because they often contain large amounts of salt and sodium. Also, use these foods sparingly: Canned or instant soups and sauce mixes Canned or frozen entrees Salty or smoked meats, such as bologna, hot dogs, lunch meats, sausage, bacon, smoked salmon, and tuna packed with salt (includes most water-packed tuna) Snack items like chips, pretzels, salted popcorn, salted nuts, and crackers Pickled foods Canned vegetables Cheeses, especially processed types Reduce your use of the salt shaker on the table, and do not add salt to foods when cooking. Flavor foods with herbs, spices, and lemon juice. Reference Links: http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/hw64814.asp http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/47/16.cfm http://www.caloriesperhour.com/faqs_salt.html

There is no relationship between salt consumption and chronic hypertension for most people. So-called "salt-sensitive" people can (we think) prevent the onset of hypertension if they reduce their salt intake by more than 90%. Very few people could do this - it would mean eating almost no prepared foods (like bread, which has as much salt as potato chips or salted pretzels). Most hypertension is caused by: obesity, cigarette smoking, diabetes, and gentetic factors. Most asians have an extremely salty diet, but little high blood pressure.