Make a New Assault on Salt - Health Day

If you're like most Americans, there's too much salt in your diet, which can lead to high blood pressure and increased risk of heart attack or stroke, experts warn.

The issue is so important that the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association and the U.S. National Institutes of Health have launched a campaign to cut Americans' salt intake by half. The AMA has even gone so far as to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw salt's designation as "safe."

n the April 19, 2007 issue of the British Medical Journal, two studies found that reducing salt intake by 25 percent to 35 percent could cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as 25 percent and lower the risk of death by 20 percent.