Cutting back on salt intake could lower the risk of developing heart disease by 25 per cent, in addition to lower blood pressure benefits, say researchers who studied people with borderline high blood pressure. Researchers in the U.S. looked at more than 3,000 people in two trials with pre-hypertension who reduced their sodium intake by 25 per cent to 35 per cent, compared with control groups that did not.

Last summer, the American Medical Association (AMA) called for a minimum 50% reduction in sodium in processed foods, fast foods, and non-fast-food restaurant meals within a decade. The group also called on the FDA to work harder to educate consumers about the health risks associated with a high-sodium diet.

“The average American is eating three times as much salt as is healthy every day — the equivalent of 2 to 3 teaspoons instead of no more than 1,” he says. “The assumption tends to be, ‘If I don’t use my salt shaker much, I’m probably OK,’ but that just isn’t true.”