Check the label

Taste alone may not tell you which foods are high in sodium. For example, you may not think a bagel tastes salty. But a large multigrain bagel may have as much as 600 milligrams of sodium. And that's before you put anything on it. Even a slice of whole-wheat bread has about 150 milligrams of sodium. So a sandwich could have at least 300 milligrams of sodium even before adding cheese, vegetables or meats.

So how can you tell which foods are high in sodium? Read food labels. The Nutrition Facts label found on most packaged and processed foods lists the amount of sodium in each serving. It also lists whether the ingredients include salt or items that have sodium, such as:

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG).
• Baking soda, also called sodium bicarbonate.
• Baking powder.
• Disodium phosphate.
• Sodium alginate.
• Sodium citrate.
• Sodium nitrite or nitrate.

Try to stay away from products with more than 200 milligrams of sodium a serving. And be sure you know how many servings are in a package. That information also is on the nutrition label.