(Health.com) -- If Americans cut their salt intake by just half
a teaspoon per day, it would produce public health benefits on
par with reducing high cholesterol, smoking, or obesity, a new
study has found. The number of heart attacks in the U.S. could
decline by up to 13 percent if adults could just slash their
daily salt intake by 3 grams, or about 1,200 milligrams of
sodium, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in
the New England Journal of Medicine. New cases of heart disease
and the number of strokes could also be expected to decline, by
up to 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively. To achieve a
similar reduction in heart attacks and other heart-related
problems, the researchers estimate, nationwide tobacco use would
need to be halved. Alternatively, obese adults would need to
reduce their body mass index by 5 percent, or all adults at low-
to-medium risk for heart disease would need to take cholesterol-
lowering statins. Even a reduction in daily salt intake of just
1 gram (or about 400 m