Excessive sodium intake can bring about high blood pressure so put that salt shaker down at once! We always get this advice from health professionals. This advice is good but only if you follow it.

We all know that sodium is an essential mineral and therefore you cannot live without it. However, excessive sodium intake can do you more harm than good. Everyday our body only needs a little bit of salt to survive. Still, most Americans have much more than they should. Thus, we need to look for ways to overcome the high blood pressure sodium intake problem.

There are a few important reasons why your body needs sodium. One of these reasons is sodium helps to normalize the water balance in your body. However, you have to use sodium in moderation since too much of it causes water to retain in your body which can then lead to edema and an increase your blood volume. The increased blood volume can stress the circulatory system which then can lead to high blood pressure. Of course there are other reasons for high blood pressure but combined with other factors or even by itself it is still a cause.

So how much sodium does our body really need? Our body only needs around 500 to 1,000 milligrams of sodium daily to function properly. However, for most adults, as much as 1,100 to 3,300 milligrams daily is assumed to be safe and The American Heart Association also recommends that we get no more than 2,300 milligrams or approximately one teaspoon of salt a day.

Then why is sodium intake such a problem? How much are we really getting now? The average American can consume as much as 6,000 to 15,000 milligrams of sodium a day and some even get as much as 28,000 milligrams.

So why is it that we are getting more than enough sodium in our diets? The reason behind this is because unlike food in its natural state, the food that we usually eat contains sodium. Sodium is usually added to packaged food, processed food and foods coming from restaurants. We need to learn how to read food labels as the numbers can add up real quick. This will then enable us to keep track of our total sodium intake.

When eating breakfast, lunch, dinners as well as all the snacks in between try to have some fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, whole grains and everything else that has no salt added. That way you are able to reduce your sodium intake gradually. If you wish to reduce your salt and high blood pressure sodium intake then it is best that you begin with baby steps.

Stop using prepared foods and start making them yourself. What's more you can buy fresh products instead of canned goods. Drink loads of water instead of soda and if you just cannot avoid eating packaged foods then see to it that you buy only those with low sodium labels.

Simply follow these suggestions together with the other means of lowering blood pressure such as having omega 3 fish oil in your diet, exercising regularly, and reducing stress and you'll definitely see your blood pressure drop down naturally.