How to eat less salt and lower your stroke risk

Want to lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke? Eat less salt. In this Health Smarts video, Robin Miller, MD, reveals how consuming just a half-teaspoon less salt a day makes a difference and shares two simple tips to cut back on sodium.

Transcript

00:00

Hi, Dr. Miller here with an easy way to lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:11

Trim your sodium consumption by just 1/2 teaspoon of salt a day. In a dramatic recent study, researchers estimated that

00:18

cutting out just 3 grams a day-- about a 1/2 a teaspoon of salt-- could prevent up to 99,000 heart attacks

00:25

and 66,000 strokes a year. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:33

So what's a 1/2 a teaspoon? It's the amount most of us probably put in our pasta water. Still, it's unlikely that your pasta water

00:40

is putting you over the limit. Researchers suggests we get up to 75% of our daily salt intake from processed foods and restaurant meals.

00:49

In fact, processed and packaged foods have so much sodium that most of us end up eating 8 to 11 grams of salt a day--

00:55

more than twice what's recommended. [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:04

Your best bet to cut down your salt intake? Eat out less often and cook more meals at home. [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:14

For more ways to nourish your health, watch and share all our smart health tips right here. [MUSIC PLAYING]