Question: Let’s start by setting the record straight: how much sodium do we need each day?

When it comes to sodium, most Canadians say they are confused. According to a recent Ipsos Reid survey commissioned by Dempster’s, 36 per cent of Canadians say they know the upper safe sodium limit, but among them, nine out of 10 got it wrong.

Adults, aged 19 to 50, need 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day. As we get older, we actually need less. Adults aged 51-70 years of age need 1,300 milligrams and after age 70, our requirement drops to 1,200 milligrams. Canadians consume, on average, 3,092 milligrams of sodium per day, more than twice as much as we need.

The upper safe sodium limit -- the amount you should not exceed -- is set at 2,300 milligrams, the amount found in a teaspoon of table salt.

Excess sodium contributes to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and some experts think, obesity. Researchers speculate that our increased intake of salt, which leads to increased thirst, has contributed to the jump in calories we’re consuming from beverages.

Question: We tend to think of soup, frozen dinners and deli meats when it comes to sodium. What other foods should we watch out for?

Manufacturers add sodium to a huge number of foods for taste, texture and as a preservative. Here are a few examples of foods that you might not think are packed with sodium. Some of them might surprise you. Keep in mind, as we go through these examples, your daily sodium requirement is 1,500 milligrams.

  • 1. Instant pudding, 1 cup prepared = 780 milligrams of sodium. That’s half your day’s worth.
  • 2. Heinz Toddler Food, Chicken Cacciatore, 1 jar = 470 milligrams of sodium. Children, aged one to 3 years, need only 1000 milligrams of sodium for the whole day.
  • 3. Kraft Classic Herb Salad dressing, 1 tbsp = 290 milligrams of sodium. But I ask, who uses only 1 tablespoon? A realistic portion is 2 to 3 tablespoons – that’s almost 900 milligrams of sodium.
  • 4. 1 per cent cottage cheese, 1 cup = 860 milligrams. It may be a low fat protein source, but low sodium it’s not.
  • 5. 1 Great Canadian Spinach Bagel = 1550 milligrams of sodium. Hard to believe!
  • 6. Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice, 1/2 cup cooked = 490 milligrams of sodium (Most people eat 1 cup and consume almost 1000 milligrams from just one side of rice.
  • 7. Kellogg’s All Bran Original, 1/2 cup = 310 milligrams of sodium. That’s a fair bit of sodium for such a small portion of cereal.

Many of these foods are otherwise healthy. But when it comes to watching your sodium intake, if you eat these foods you’ll need to watch your portion size and balance your remaining food choices for the day.

Question: So how can people reduce their sodium intake when it seems to be everywhere?

Since 77 per cent of the sodium we consume comes from packaged, processed foods and restaurant meals, the most important thing you can do is read nutrition labels. Once you start looking at sodium counts on nutrition labels, it’s amazing to see how sodium levels vary widely across brands of similar foods.

The problem is that more than half of Canadians say they don’t understand sodium information on nutrition labels. So here’s a quick primer…

The first place to look is serving size. The label tells you the amount of sodium per 1 serving of the food. If you eat more that this serving size, you’ll need to increase the sodium numbers.

This is an example of a frozen dinner. One serving delivers 1180 milligrams of sodium! Now, you already know that’s a lot! Next to the amount of sodium is the per cent daily value – and this is what confuses people. The per cent daily value is not based on your daily requirement for sodium. Instead, Health Canada has set the daily value for sodium at 2,400 milligrams for labeling purposes.

I tell my clients to think of that number as 2,300 milligrams -- your upper limit for sodium for the whole day. So in this case, the per cent daily value for sodium is 49 per cent. What that means is that one serving of this frozen meal, one tiny little tray, supplies half of your entire day’s worth of sodium! Too much.

Use the per cent daily value as benchmark, to see if there is a little or lot of sodium in one serving of a food. Foods with a daily value of 5 per cent or less for sodium are low in sodium. Foods with a daily value of 15 per cent or more are higher in sodium. That’s not to say every single food you eat has to be low in sodium. But it gives you a pretty clear idea that if you do eat this particular frozen meal, you better stick to low sodium foods for the rest of the day.