Study finds Americans eat too much salt

90 percent of Americans have too much salt in their diet.

So health officials have come up with a list of the top sources of salt in the American diet and bread is number one.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says just 10 foods account for 44 percent of the sodium.

Cold cuts, pizza and poultry were also leading sources. Soup came in at number five. And snack foods such as pretzels and potato chips were 10th.

Too much salt is bad for your blood pressure. And with February being heart-health awareness month, it's a good time to go over the basics of blood pressure.

A blood pressure higher than 120 means your heart has to push harder to get blood out.

This means it will thicken, and that's not good for the heart.

Dr. David Frid with the Cleveland Clinic says, "For most people, the numbers less than120 over 80 is where you need to be. And what I try to tell people is usually a blood pressure is never too low, unless they're feeling light-headed or dizzy."           

Exercise, a diet low in sodium, and an ideal body weight will help you keep your blood pressure from getting too high.