How to avoid hidden sodium - a Johns Hopkins dietitian walks through the aisles of a grocery store with you (video)

Join Johns Hopkins registered dietitian, Arielle Rosenberg, as she walks through the aisles and offers suggestions on how to lower salt intake -- but not compromise flavor.

Cutting U.S. salt intake by just half a teaspoon (3 grams) a day would prevent up to 92,000 deaths, 99,000 heart attacks, and 66,000 strokes -- a benefit as big as smoking cessation. A 3-gm per day reduction in salt (1,200 mg of sodium) will result in 6% fewer new cases of heart disease and 3% fewer deaths.

The average U.S. man gets about 10.4 grams a day and the average U.S. woman gets about 7.3 grams a day.

77% of the salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Only 6% is shaken out at the table, and only 5% is sprinkled during cooking.

Once people cut back on salt -- whether or not they know they are doing it -- they begin to prefer less salt in their food. This happens in a matter of weeks.

References:

"Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking"