Flor de Sal contains less sodium than regular sea salt, and it contains over 80 essential minerals and is recommended for diabetics and people that suffer from hypertension. It has a flavor, which is a world away from common table salt and other, processed sea salt.

Mind your sodium to potassium ratio

According to Lawrence Appel, lead researcher on the DASH diet and director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins, your diet as a whole is the key to controlling hypertension — not salt reduction alone.

He believes a major part of the equation is this balance of minerals, most people need less sodium and more potassium, calcium, and magnesium. According to Appel: "Higher levels of potassium blunt the effects of sodium. If you can't reduce or won't reduce sodium, adding potassium may help. But doing both is better."

Indeed, maintaining a proper potassium to sodium ratio in your diet is very important, and hypertension is but one of many side effects of an imbalance. A processed food diet virtually guarantees you'll have a lopsided ratio of too much sodium to potassium. Making the switch from processed foods to whole foods will automatically improve your ratios.