[A study], published in 2011, followed 28,800 subjects with high blood pressure aged 55 and older for 4.7 years and analyzed their sodium consumption by urinalysis. The researchers reported that the risks of heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure and death from heart disease increased significantly for those consuming more than 7,000 milligrams of sodium a day and for those consuming less than 3,000 milligrams of sodium a day.
Wow, it’s almost like the extreme might be the problem. Sometimes “the dose makes the poison” is worth remembering.
Living ~400lbs 
The thing that shocks and worries me is the lower end of the spectrum ALSO shows increased risk. How long have doctors been telling heart patients to cut out salt? How many of the patients manage to get below the 3000 mg mark that increases their risk? How much sodium is my grandpa (a heart patient) getting?
Good question! Salt is added at most stages of food processing, so it can be hard to get it down that low without cooking / baking everything from scratch….
On Junk Food Science blog, there was a link to another study done, that showed most people eat 3300mg of salt a day, and the RDA seems to be at 2500mg. Apparently our bodies tell us when we have enough. Also I’ve been adding more salt to things, since I went 15 yrs without any salt and felt like crap for it. Maybe that’s why I had heart palpitations?