Prepared Foods from the Freezer or Pantry

You pull out a can of childhood memories -- chicken noodle soup. For the heck of it, read the label. The salt content of this soup is 1,100 mg of salt, aka sodium, almost three-fourths of the recommended daily allowance. In one can of soup!

Most Americans consume about 3,500 mg of salt a day, way higher than the recommended 1,500 mg or less daily. Those who consumed 4,000 milligrams of salt a day had double the risk of stroke than those that ate half that amount.

Sodium is listed as many forms on labels, so look for these ingredients: MSG or monosodium glutamate, baking soda, disodium phosphate, baking powder and sodium alginate.

Calcium 

Known as a blood thickener, it helps build thick and strong blood vessels. Good calcium sources include low-fat milk, mozzarella cheese, almonds and tofu. Dehydration is the main cause of having too much calcium in the blood. Ensuring that you get enough water in a day is essential to keeping blood balanced.

Processed Meats

If you are a pastrami lover or enjoy bacon or hot dogs, reading this may change your mind about your meat choices. Preservatives used in these meats are abhorred by the medical community – sodium nitrite and nitrite – both shown to damage blood vessel walls directly by making artery walls hard and narrow. One research into papers on the subject of these meats found a 42 percent increase of coronary heart disease when the subjects ate one meal of processed meats a day.