A New study suggested that just one gram cut of salt from their daily diet would reduce 250,000 new cases of heart disease and 200,000 fewer deaths over a decade. Americans are using 50 percent more salt than they did in the 1970s in spite of doctors knowing that too much salt is linked with high blood pressure and heart disease. Blood pressure rates have risen almost 50 percent. 9 grams to 12 grams of salt a day coming from processed foods is consumed by Americans which is far more salt than is recommended by many health organizations. Bibbins-Domingo planed to present the findings at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference, in Palm Harbor, Fla. In the study the researchers used a computer simulation called the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model to estimate the impact of reducing salt by 0 grams to 6 grams on heart disease and deaths from heart disease. It was found that between 2010 and 2019, there could be more than 800,000 life years saved for every gram of salt removed from the diet. There would be 1.4 million fewer cases of heart disease and 1.1 million fewer deaths if 6 grams a day were cut from people's diets. Reducing 3 grams a day will show 6 percent fewer new cases of heart disease, 8 percent fewer heart attacks and 3 percent fewer deaths. In blacks it would be 10 percent fewer new cases of heart disease, 13 percent fewer heart attacks and 6 percent fewer deaths. Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology said that reducing salt in your diet could reduce your blood pressure, lowering your odds of developing heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends healthy adults to consume less than 2.3 grams of sodium a day.