By AOL Health

The USDA recently released the new, 2010 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. And while there has been a lot of news about the changes it might mean for our diets, I’m here to tell you, there’s not much to write home about.

They did a decent job on sodium (though, predictably the Salt Institute is already spinning the recommendations as unfair, digging up some research showing how important sodium is in the diet. What a shock.)

The new guidelines recognize that for a large percentage of the population — not all mind you, but enough — lowering sodium has a good effect on blood pressure. The new guidelines call for 2,300 mg a day of sodium (about the amount in a teaspoon of salt) but mention that certain groups for groups at risk for high blood pressure– African Americans, individuals with hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease and individuals ages 51 and older– respond even more dramatically to sodium reduction, and for these groups the guidelines recommend no more than 1,500 mg a day.

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