February is American Heart Month and it’s a great time for us to share the latest research and information about heart disease and stroke prevention. The newest edition of CDC Vital Signs at http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns focuses on excessive sodium in the American diet and the top 10 types of foods most responsible for it. CDC Vital Signs reports on a single, compelling public health topic each month.
Some key points of the CDC Vital Signs report on sodium include:
- 9 in 10 Americans aged 2 years and older eat too much sodium.
- 44% of the sodium we eat comes from just 10 types of foods.
- 65% of sodium we eat comes from foods sold in grocery stores.
- 25% of sodium we eat comes from foods served in restaurants.
- Too much sodium can raise high blood pressure and increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.
- 800,000 people die each year from heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases.
Most of the sodium we eat comes from food sold in grocery stores and in restaurants, and not what is added at the table. Sodium is already part of processed foods and cannot be removed. Reducing sodium content of the 10 leading food sources by 25 percent would lower total dietary sodium by more than 10 percent.
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