"Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking"

Cutting U.S. salt intake by just half a teaspoon (3 grams) a day would prevent up to 92,000 deaths, 99,000 heart attacks, and 66,000 strokes -- a benefit as big as smoking cessation. A 3-gm per day reduction in salt (1,200 mg of sodium) will result in 6% fewer new cases of heart disease and 3% fewer deaths.

The average U.S. man gets about 10.4 grams a day and the average U.S. woman gets about 7.3 grams a day.

77% of the salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Only 6% is shaken out at the table, and only 5% is sprinkled during cooking.

Once people cut back on salt -- whether or not they know they are doing it -- they begin to prefer less salt in their food. This happens in a matter of weeks.

Alarmed by high death rates from strokes, Portugal plans to decrease salt in bread, blamed for high blood pressure. Portugal has one of the highest mortality rates from strokes in Europe - double that in Spain and 3 times that in France. Strokes account for 20% of deaths in Portugal, reduction of salt intake by 1 gram per day would save 2,650 lives per year. http://is.gd/ndNv

The daily salt intake in Portugal is a staggering 12.3 grams (ranging from 5.2 to 24.8 gm) http://is.gd/ndQq

References:

Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking. WebMD, 2010.
Sweat Bees prefer sweaty people because the human diet is so salty that their perspiration is saturated with that essential nutrient. WSJ, 2012.

Image source: Single-serving salt packets. Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

President Obama has been smoking for 30 years and managed to quit - and so can you

The White House says President Obama has kicked the habit and stopped smoking. "It's been probably about nine months since he last smoked a cigarette," says Robert Gibbs, the President's press secretary, in an interview with CNN. Mr. Obama, like a lot of smokers, has quit before and started back up again. This time may be different. Gibbs says this is the longest he's known the President to go without a cigarette. He quit by chewing Nicorette gum and exercising a lot of will power.

References:

Stop smoking: Follow the President's example. CNN.
The Presidents Club | Photos: Oval Office Secrets from Truman to Obama | TIME, 2012.