We are getting far more sodium in our food than a man or woman should consume. The use of salt to spice up processed foods is so rampant there is a movement afoot to get manufacturers to ease up on the stuff!

While dumping the saltshaker is a good idea, it won't solve the problem. The vast majority of the sodium we eat is hidden inside common foods. And sadly, many are our favorites, including pizza, frozen dinners and canned soups.

If doctors had a choice they would condemn the food makers and ask police to levy the charge of a “salt with a deadly weapon." You see, it's not simply a matter of bloating -- too much salt can lead to nasty health problems.

Let me throw salt in the wounds. Sodium tastes good... there's no denying that! And our body needs sodium. It's a mineral that helps the body regulate blood pressure. It's also needed for muscle and nerve function.

However... we only need between 500 and 1,000 milligrams a day and most of us eat many many times that amount without even adding salt to our food. We add sodium to our food and table salt is 40% sodium. One teaspoon of table salt contains 2,000 milligrams of salt.

Diets high in sodium are linked to fluid retention and high blood pressure, factors that lead to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

Salt is sneaky. It is found in many packaged foods you’d think as sweet, including snack puddings and instant hot chocolate. There is more sodium in a cup of Raisin Bran cereal (486 milligrams) than in a cup of dry roasted peanuts (about 9 milligrams).

Salty foods also include cereals, crackers, breads and many packaged foods. Packaged meats, soups and frozen entrees are the worst offenders. One smoked pork sausage contains over 1,000 milligrams! Cheese is especially high in sodium. One cup of 1% cottage cheese contains over 900 milligrams.

Fast food is salty food. Monosodium glutamate is used as a flavor enhancer, and is present in most of the seasonings and flavors used in commercial food preparation. A 4-oz. hamburger contains about 80 milligrams of sodium; a fast food burger almost 10 times the amount. Your best bet is to order baked, grilled or broiled foods and hold the sauce.

Mustard is high in sodium. If you’re watching your sodium, make your diet full of fresh foods, fruit, vegetables and lean meats. Read food labels: a low-sodium food contains 140 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.

Ask for the nutrition information at fast food franchises. You won’t generally be able to get this info at other restaurants, unless they have a 'healthy' menu."

Nutritionists can vouch for the fact salt is an acquired taste. There are plenty of stories of patients who practically stopped using salt years ago after they were diagnosed with weight-triggered high blood pressure. Now, when they bite into obviously salted foods like fries or corn on the cob the taste makes them cringe. The same goes for the processed foods that are high in sodium.

Due to the fact many of our processed foods are sodium-soaked, it's tough to steer clear of the stuff. But it can be done. Read the labels! You should consume no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day. Go to your pantry or freezer and check the nutritional numbers on the food you eat on a regular basis. Scary huh?

Here's something scarier: too much sodium is bad for your blood pressure and high blood pressure hurts your heart, brain and kidneys. The difference between a diastolic blood pressure of 89 and 69 (both are considered normal) is an extra 27 years of aging of your arteries.

There's only so much people can worry about when it comes to food. But the fact is high blood pressure rates are going up, the evidence that salt raises blood pressure has only gotten stronger, and people need to hear that message.

25% of the population suffer hypertension and are urged to eat a low salt diet that includes no more than 1,500 milligrams a day.

Amazingly, the average person eats over 4,000- 6000 mg of sodium a day -- and 75% of it comes from processed food and restaurant meals.

The American Public Health Association issued a challenge to the food industry: cut sodium use by 50% over the next 10 years. The group estimates the change could cut the number of hypertension sufferers by 20 percent. Eventually, that would save in the USA alone some 150,000 lives... a year!

If you are a soup lover thinking, "Hey, I'll simply opt for those cans labeled 'healthy!'... Think again. FDA allows no more than 480 mg of sodium in "healthy" soups, compared to the 800-1,000mg found in typical canned soups. But that amount of sodium is still considered high by some watchdogs. Not so surprisingly, the industry has fought an FDA attempt to lower the allowable sodium in a product labeled healthy.

The FDA is considering giving soup makers three more years to lower sodium levels to 360mg per serving or lose the healthy label. Ironically, they are letting "healthy" frozen dinners stay at 600 mg out of fear no brands would pass the test.

Dine out at your own risk. One independent study found restaurants can assault you with more than 3,000 mg per entree.

High-Sodium Products

• Table salt
All kind of pickles (Mukallal) and sauerkraut

• Seasonings that contain salt (celery salt, garlic salt, onion salt, season-all, "Lite Salt")

• Regular canned soups

• Breads and rolls with salted toppings

• Potato chips, corn chips, pretzels, saltines, salty crackers, salted popcorn

• Salty or smoked meats (bacon, bologna, chipped or corned beef, frankfurters, ham, meats koshered by salting, luncheon meats, salt pork, sausage, smoked tongue, canned or pickled meats)

• Salty or smoked fish (anchovies, caviar, salted and dried cod, herring, sardines)

• Processed cheese, cheese spreads, Roquefort, Camembert, Gorgonzola, Feta cheese or Parmesan

• Salted nuts, olives, bacon and bacon fat

• Regular peanut butter

• Bouillon, ketchup, chili sauces, meat extracts, meat sauces, meat tenderizers, monosodium glutamate, prepared mustard, relishes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce

• Antacids containing sodium (Alka Seltzer)

• Baking soda toothpaste

• Convenience foods (canned, processed, or frozen)

• Many restaurant foods.

• Chewing tobacco

To Reduce Salt Intake...

• Stop adding extra salt to the food on your plate

• Use less salt when cooking -- try using a squeeze of lemon or small quantities of herbs and spices as an alternative

• Choose fresh foods where possible

• Choose foods with a lower salt content: food products that say "low sodium" on the package have 140mg of sodium or less per serving, while products marked "very low sodium" have no more than 35 milligrams

Be leery of certain veggies. One stalk of celery contains 35 milligrams of sodium. Other vegetables to watch are: beets, beet greens, carrots, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard, white turnips, frozen peas, frozen lima beans, and tomato juice, sauce, paste or puree. The sodium values range from 35 to 155 milligrams for one cup cooked of any above vegetable.

If you are a veggie lover who's trying to cut down on sodium, try munching peppers (green, yellow, orange or red), green onions, cauliflower, cabbage or broccoli.

One final word of warning: most salt substitutes contain potassium chloride. Talk to your doctor. Certain blood pressure medications or kidney problems might make salt substitutes a bad choice. And keep in mind that "light salt" is still salt.