Watch Out For Salt In Your Favorite Foods

I recently came across this article and thought it was important to share.
We are all aware that taking in too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and it has been linked to asthma, kidney stones and osteoporosis.

Within the article, written by Bottom Line's Daily Health News highlights six of our favorite foods that have hidden salt:
The AHA recommends that all Americans keep their salt intake to less than 1,500 mg per day—less than half of the current average intake of about 3,400 mg per day. To achieve that, watch out for…

1. Breads Even though bread doesn’t usually taste salty, a single slice has as much as 230 mg of sodium. If you have two slices of toast at breakfast, a sandwich at lunch and a roll or two with dinner, you’re darn close to your whole day’s allotment of sodium before you’ve factored in any other foods. And if you spread that bread with regular butter (butter not labeled “unsalted”), which has about 100 mg of sodium per tablespoon, you’re over the limit.
2. Poultry The amount of sodium varies depending on how poultry is prepared—but did you know that even raw chicken or turkey may contain salt? Often salt is added during packaging to help keep poultry fresh…poultry may be brined to make it kosher…or a salty broth may be added to raw poultry to ensure that it will be moist after cooking. This process can add 100 mg of sodium or more to each serving of poultry—including the ground poultry that’s so popular these days. Of course, poultry that’s breaded and fried is typically far worse. For instance, a 3.5-ounce serving of chicken nuggets usually contains about 600 mg of sodium.
3. Cold cuts You know that bologna, salami, ham and other such meats are high in sodium, but you may not realize just how salty they really are. Reality check: A modest four-ounce serving of deli meat can use up your entire day’s allotment of sodium in one fell swoop. Deli turkey isn’t necessarily much better—four ounces of smoked turkey breast typically has nearly 1,100 mg of sodium.
4. Soup What seems like a healthy choice—a nice bowl of vegetable or chicken noodle soup—can sabotage you because prepared soups, broths and bullions are loaded with salt. Just one cup of canned soup contains as much as 940 mg of sodium…so if you consume the whole can (as many of us do), you’re way above the limit for the day.
5. Pizza This fast food has salt in the cheese, in the crust and in the sauce. Just one four-ounce slice of cheese pizza contains up to 760 mg of sodium—and that’s assuming you don’t add pepperoni or another salty topping.
6. Sandwiches Since bread and cold cuts are loaded with salt, putting them together in a sandwich is a sure way to exceed your salt quota, particularly if you include other sodium-packed extras such as cheese (176 mg per ounce for cheddar) and/or mustard (171 mg per tablespoon).

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Bottom Line Production's Full Article