Admit it. You stopped worrying about salt. Who can blame you? In terms of food intake, you've been keeping a watchful eye on calories while counting carbs and trying to figure out where all those bad trans fats are hiding.

But a nutrition watchdog group, darn it, has decided that most of us need a refresher course on sodium, and plenty of dietitians agree. Between eating out and buying, oh, just about any non-raw food item at the supermarket, we're basically swimming in sodium.

You might be proud of all those choices in your shopping cart because they're happy with FIBER! or CALCIUM! or VITAMINS! Some are FREE! of fat molecules. Take a look at the sodium count on the nutrition label, however, and the salt news probably isn't good.

It doesn't take many servings of this stuff to soar past the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams, which is about a teaspoon. And too much salt means an increased risk of high blood pressure, a very bad deal for the heart.

"If people use the food labels, they'll be surprised," said registered dietitian Sandy Procter with Kansas State Extension and Research. Surprised that salt is in places where it has no dietary business, that is.

"It's added because it's inexpensive and we've developed a taste for it."

Recently the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group in Washington, sued the Food and Drug Administration to force a crackdown on the amount of sodium in processed food. By defining salt as a "food additive," the organization said, the FDA would have more regulatory authority to limit it.

Some think the advocacy group is more a fearmonger than a watchdog. This is the organization that pointed out several years ago that movie popcorn and Chinese food are crammed with calories and fat.

Saltified groceries are less obvious and more difficult to avoid. Ann Chapman, registered dietitian at the University of Kansas, said store-bought bread is a good example.

Two slices of Earth Grains wheat bread, the package of which trumpets its calcium and notes its lack of trans fats, contains 430 milligrams of sodium. That's nearly 20 percent of the sodium you need all day and from a source not thought of as salty.

None of this is to say that salt should be banished. In fact, it's essential to good health. Calibrating the amount is the issue, and right now the average American eats too much, somewhere in the 3,000 to 4,000 milligram range. And while the recommended limit is 2,300 milligrams, some middle-age and older people are told by their doctors to shoot for 1,500 milligrams.

Getting enough potassium, nutritionists say, may help blunt the effects of too much sodium. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a good source.

One way to combat all the sodium at the grocery store, dietitians said, is to look for "reduced sodium" or "no salt added" varieties. Consumers nowadays are much better at checking fat and carb grams, Procter said, and they can get just as good at checking sodium on nutrition labels.

Choosing the least-processed items will help, but cooking with fresh ingredients is the best solution. If you can't do fresh vegetables, pick frozen over canned. And instead of salt, use fresh garlic and spices.

Perhaps the hardest part, Chapman said, is accepting that food without so much salt won't taste the same. It doesn't have to be bland, she said, but you'll notice the difference.

"We don't need all this sodium that food has been processed with for so long," Chapman said. "Our enjoyment of sodium is a learned behavior. We can unlearn it."

Salty excess

Sodium is essential in the diet. Salt does good things for food. But too much salt can be unhealthy. Here are some tips to help you keep your milligrams under control.

1. Don't touch the saltshaker.

2. Examine recipes and cut the salt in half or eliminate it altogether.

3. Use spices to flavor meat and vegetables.

4. Avoid or cut back on salty snacks, including chips and salted nuts, or buy no-salt varieties.

5. Try the DASH Eating Plan - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - recommended by the National Institutes of Health at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/.

6. Look for low-salt or no-salt alternatives. Some dietitians recommend the Healthy Choice brand.

7. Cook with fresh ingredients. Steaming fresh vegetables doesn't take much time.

8. If you can't use fresh vegetables, use frozen. Rinsing canned vegetables might help.

9. Choose food high in potassium to help counteract the bad effects of too much sodium.

10. When eating out, the rule of thumb is "the plainer the better."

Canned vegetables

A half-cup of canned green beans: 390 milligrams of sodium - 16 percent daily value. Try the no-salt-added variety, which has just 10 milligrams a serving.

Taco seasoning: Two tacos' worth of seasoning: 560 milligrams of sodium - 23 percent daily value.

Cottage cheese, half a cup: 400 milligrams of sodium.

Oatmeal, a package of Quaker instant oats: 80 milligrams of sodium.

Tomato sauce, a quarter-cup: 380 milligrams of sodium - 16 percent daily value.

Soy sauce, a tablespoon of Kikkoman soy sauce: 920 milligrams of sodium - 38 percent daily value based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

V8, A 12-ounce serving of V8 vegetable juice: 880 milligrams of sodium - 37 percent daily value.

Breakfast cereal, a half-cup to a cup of many cereals: 200 milligrams of sodium - 9 percent daily value.

Baked beans, a half-cup serving of Bush's Country Style Baked Beans: 680 milligrams of sodium - 28 percent daily value.

Soup, a half-cup of Campbell's vegetable beef soup: 890 milligrams of sodium - 37 percent daily value.

Sliced bread: 430 milligrams in two slices of wheat - 18 percent daily value.

Pancakes: 470 milligrams in two four-inch pancakes - 20 percent daily value.

Rice a Roni: One-cup serving: 1,040 milligrams - 43 percent daily value.

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