Today it is estimated that about 72 million people in the United States suffer from high blood pressure which, difficult though it may be to believe, means that about one out of every three adults has hypertension. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with hypertension is that it often has few if any real symptoms and so you can be walking around with high blood pressure without even knowing it.

For this reason you should make a conscious effort to have your blood pressure checked regularly and, if you do not have occasion to visit your doctor's office very often, then it is a good idea to get hold of one of the many inexpensive home blood pressure monitors available today and make a point of checking all family members at least three of four times a year.

If you have hypertension, or are worried about developing high blood pressure, then you will probably know that one of the first things you need to do is to reduce your intake of salt. However, that is not always as easy as it sounds.

Salt has been around for thousands of years and is used in most food products both as a preservative and to bring out the flavor of the food. This means that when it comes to cutting down on salt you have two problems - trying to avoid buying foods which contain a lot of salt and finding an alternative way to add flavor to your meals.

Fortunately today both the government and food manufacturers often come to our rescue when it comes to helping us to choose food products which are low in salt. As far as the government is concerned almost all foods today are required to carry nutritional labeling, which includes the amount of salt, or sodium, which the food contains. At the same time, more and more manufacturers are now producing sodium free, or very low sodium, varieties of many of our favorite foodstuffs.

But, when it comes to good old fashioned home cooking, what do we do with all those recipes which call for a pinch of salt?

Well, a pinch of salt is probably okay here and there. After all, we are not talking about cutting salt out of our diet altogether, but simply about reducing our intake. But the pinches soon add up and so, while a little bit of salt in some recipes will not do any harm, you need to look for ways of replacing this salt wherever possible.

One answer is to turn to spices and herbs or to low sodium seasonings such as onion powder, garlic powder and sodium free bouillon.

Of course you will need to experiment to see what you like and do not like, but start with a few simple ideas like seasoning and marinating fish and meat well ahead of cooking to bring out the flavor. You will also find that there are all sorts of things that you can add to your food at the table to add flavor. For example, try squeezing a little fresh lime or lemon juice onto your vegetables.

Cutting down on salt to help lower hypertension, or to prevent you from developing high blood pressure in the first place, is not too difficult but it will take a little bit of thought and some experimentation.