Surprisingly salty foods
You already know snack foods like chips, crackers, and pretzels pack a lot of salt. But even if you don't eat those, you may be on a high-sodium diet without realizing it. Many foods you wouldn't expect are swimming in salt, including bagels, cereals, and even cottage cheese. Most people should stick to less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day (those with high blood pressure should limit it 1,500 mg).It's no surprise that marinades and salad dressings contain salt, since they taste salty. But it may shock you just how much they have. A two-tablespoon serving of salad dressing or barbecue sauce may pack 300 mg of sodium (10 to 15% of your day's quota)—and you often use two servings or more on your food. Same with marinades, which can pack nearly a fifth of your limit in just one tablespoon, which isn't even enough to cover one chicken breast. Control sodium by making these marinade recipes and salad dressing recipes at home.
Cottage cheese is a good source of calcium and protein. Low-fat cottage cheese packs a whopping 28 grams of protein for only 160 calories. The catch: a one-cup serving can contain almost 1,000 mg of sodium—about 40% of what you're supposed to have in an entire day. Look for no-salt-added cottage cheese. Greek yogurt, which contains just 60 mg of sodium per serving, is a worthy high-protein substitute.
Cereals, Bagels, and Donuts can be healthy way to start your day—or a salty one. Many cereals have 180 to 300 mg of sodium per serving—up to 12% of what you should consume in a whole day—and that's if you only pour one serving in your bowl. Better bet: stick with plain oatmeal topped with fruit.
You know that packaged cakes and doughnuts are packed with sugar and carbs, but they're also salty. One Entenmann's crumb doughnut, for example, supplies you with over 200 mg of sodium (about 10% of your day's limit). Packaged baked goods rely on sodium as a preservative in addition to any salt used during baking.
A bowl of hot soup makes a filling, healthy lunch. What's shocking is just how much salt most soups contain, especially the canned soups on supermarket shelves. Though a bowl might be less than 300 calories, a serving can contain half of your sodium limit for the day.When it comes to canned soup, buy low-salt versions whenever possible. After years of eating super-salty soup, you may think it tastes bland. Dress it up with freshly cracked pepper, fresh herbs, or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. You can also add a few shakes of salt yourself—you'll never add more than food companies would.
When you see "reduced sodium" on a food label, you may think you're being served up a lot less salt. However, this FDA-regulated term means that a food has only 25% less sodium than the original product. So for a frozen meal that contains 1,000 mg of sodium, the reduced-sodium version would have 750 mg—still high. Reduced-sodium options can be a smart choice if you're slowly trying to cut back on salt, but if you're watching your sodium closely, better labels to look for are "low sodium" (with 140 mg of sodium or less per serving) and "very low sodium" (35 mg of sodium or less).
Some soy and veggie burgers are made with a long list of highly processed ingredients and use salt to enhance the flavor. Patties can pack 400 to 500 mg, and that's before the bun, condiments, and cheese.Per cup, pre-sauced frozen vegetable mixes can add nearly 500 mg of sodium to your meal, particularly if you choose cheesy sauces. Skip these and go for plain frozen vegetables, like bags of peas, onions, corn, and spinach. Frozen veggies are just as healthy as fresh, and often more so. Freezing produce shortly after harvest preserves nutrients, whereas fresh produce often loses some nutrients during shipping and storage.
Mac & Cheese a preferred meal for most backpackers is a whopper of sodium at 20% or 480mg per servings which is two per box. The salt appears in the elbows and the sauce. Calories 250.
Ramen Noodle Soup. Cheap but loaded with Salt each packet is two servings Sodium 790 mg or 33% Some of us divide the flavor packet in half but its still some 400mg, and way too high.
Seasoned Beef Crumbles 255mg if divided into two meals 170mg if divided into three or 7%
Rissotto packets - 600mg or 25% and way too high.
You already know snack foods like chips, crackers, and pretzels pack a lot of salt. But even if you don't eat those, you may be on a high-sodium diet without realizing it. Many foods you wouldn't expect are swimming in salt, including bagels, cereals, and even cottage cheese. Most people should stick to less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day (those with high blood pressure should limit it 1,500 mg).It's no surprise that marinades and salad dressings contain salt, since they taste salty. But it may shock you just how much they have. A two-tablespoon serving of salad dressing or barbecue sauce may pack 300 mg of sodium (10 to 15% of your day's quota)—and you often use two servings or more on your food. Same with marinades, which can pack nearly a fifth of your limit in just one tablespoon, which isn't even enough to cover one chicken breast. Control sodium by making these marinade recipes and salad dressing recipes at home.
Cottage cheese is a good source of calcium and protein. Low-fat cottage cheese packs a whopping 28 grams of protein for only 160 calories. The catch: a one-cup serving can contain almost 1,000 mg of sodium—about 40% of what you're supposed to have in an entire day. Look for no-salt-added cottage cheese. Greek yogurt, which contains just 60 mg of sodium per serving, is a worthy high-protein substitute.
Cereals, Bagels, and Donuts can be healthy way to start your day—or a salty one. Many cereals have 180 to 300 mg of sodium per serving—up to 12% of what you should consume in a whole day—and that's if you only pour one serving in your bowl. Better bet: stick with plain oatmeal topped with fruit.
You know that packaged cakes and doughnuts are packed with sugar and carbs, but they're also salty. One Entenmann's crumb doughnut, for example, supplies you with over 200 mg of sodium (about 10% of your day's limit). Packaged baked goods rely on sodium as a preservative in addition to any salt used during baking.
A bowl of hot soup makes a filling, healthy lunch. What's shocking is just how much salt most soups contain, especially the canned soups on supermarket shelves. Though a bowl might be less than 300 calories, a serving can contain half of your sodium limit for the day.When it comes to canned soup, buy low-salt versions whenever possible. After years of eating super-salty soup, you may think it tastes bland. Dress it up with freshly cracked pepper, fresh herbs, or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. You can also add a few shakes of salt yourself—you'll never add more than food companies would.
When you see "reduced sodium" on a food label, you may think you're being served up a lot less salt. However, this FDA-regulated term means that a food has only 25% less sodium than the original product. So for a frozen meal that contains 1,000 mg of sodium, the reduced-sodium version would have 750 mg—still high. Reduced-sodium options can be a smart choice if you're slowly trying to cut back on salt, but if you're watching your sodium closely, better labels to look for are "low sodium" (with 140 mg of sodium or less per serving) and "very low sodium" (35 mg of sodium or less).
Some soy and veggie burgers are made with a long list of highly processed ingredients and use salt to enhance the flavor. Patties can pack 400 to 500 mg, and that's before the bun, condiments, and cheese.Per cup, pre-sauced frozen vegetable mixes can add nearly 500 mg of sodium to your meal, particularly if you choose cheesy sauces. Skip these and go for plain frozen vegetables, like bags of peas, onions, corn, and spinach. Frozen veggies are just as healthy as fresh, and often more so. Freezing produce shortly after harvest preserves nutrients, whereas fresh produce often loses some nutrients during shipping and storage.
Mac & Cheese a preferred meal for most backpackers is a whopper of sodium at 20% or 480mg per servings which is two per box. The salt appears in the elbows and the sauce. Calories 250.
Ramen Noodle Soup. Cheap but loaded with Salt each packet is two servings Sodium 790 mg or 33% Some of us divide the flavor packet in half but its still some 400mg, and way too high.
Seasoned Beef Crumbles 255mg if divided into two meals 170mg if divided into three or 7%
Rissotto packets - 600mg or 25% and way too high.
Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! 
