Salt, the couture way to Heart Disease.

Fleur de sel. Black Hawaiian. Pink Himalayan. Types of flowers? Breeds of cute exotic cats? No, these are all actually varieties of salt! And they're amazing; they not only look beautiful, but they taste tantalizingly delicious - a world apart from plain old table salt. From salted caramel candies to sea salt-encrusted sea bass, the new fad of couture condiments has captured our hearts, so to speak. Years of advice to cut down on salt and consider low-sodium diets have gone out the window, and we predict a brisk business for cardiologists like us will be the result!  When you consume excess sodium, it has two major effects on your body: water retention and hypertension.

Water retention - an excessive amount of fluid retained by your body -  makes you look and feel bloated. And we all know nobody wants that. But seriously, it is not just a looks thing. Water retention results in an increased amount of stress on the cardiovascular system, which leads to hypertension, or high blood pressure. Cardiovascular disease remains the biggest killer in the United States, and hypertension is a major contributing factor. Statistics show that one in three Americans will develop high blood pressure in their lifetime, and the problem starts early in life. The American Heart Association reports that a staggering 97 percent of children and adolescents have high-sodium diets that put them at increased risk for heart disease as they grow older.

How Much Salt Should I Eat?

 A healthy diet based on 2000 calories a day should include no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium daily; the AHA recommends a limit of 1,500 mg.  Most of us eat at least 3,600 mg a day, and it's killing us.

A recent study conducted by the American Heart Association concludes that gradually reducing our national  sodium "addiction" over 10 years could potentially save between 700,000 and 1.2 million lives! Knowing where sodium hides in your foods can really help you police your sodium intake.  Check out this list of the top 10 foods highest in sodium and also a list of surprising high sodium foods.