The Buddha advised, "Let yourself be open, and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed."

World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo, goalkeeper for the U.S. women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, gets to about the same conclusion her own way: "It's all in fun. I take everything with a grain of salt."

They're right about how much salt to consume — and because of new guidelines, it may be easier for you to get it right too.

The Food and Drug Administration just asked (not required) the food industry to reduce sodium in processed, packaged, and prepared foods by 12% over the next two and a half years.

A corresponding viewpoint article in JAMA Network suggests "reducing sodium intake will improve health outcomes for hundreds of thousands of individuals and could save billions in healthcare-related spending ..."

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says the chronic disease risk reduction Intake for sodium is 2,300 mg, or 1 teaspoon daily for anyone ages 14 and older.

The good news is that you can reduce your intake before the industry takes steps by dodging hidden salt.

For instance, plain, frozen shrimp delivers around 800 mg in 3 ounces. Fresh, plain, unfrozen shrimp has only about 110 mg. Canned soup and cottage cheese have about 700 mg per serving.

Other unexpected culprits: tortillas, canned vegetables, vegetable juice, grocery store bagels, even canned tuna.

Better choices (but do check labels) include frozen veggies, low-sodium whole-wheat bread, fresh tuna, and home-squeezed veggie juices.