Avoid these shocking sources of salt to cut back on your sodium intake.

The average American gets about twice as much blood-pressure-boosting sodium a day as the recommended 1,500 to 2,300 mg limit. Not every pretzel lover develops hypertension, but some 73 million of us have it. And new research shows that high blood pressure kills more women than men and is two to three times more common in women who take oral contraceptives.

Even if you never lift a shaker, you may be eating much more salt than you think. It lurks in many processed foods, even those that don't taste salty. Right now there's no specific limit on how much salt manufacturers can put in their products, but the American Medical Association and other groups are pushing the FDA to change salt's “generally recommended as safe” status, which could give the agency more power to restrict sodium levels.

Salt adds up fast, so skip foods with more than 500 mg of sodium per serving, and be aware of these shocking sources:

Bread: A bagel has upwards of 450 mg, twice the amount in a medium order of McDonald's fries. Two slices of Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat bread have 360 mg.

Dairy: A half cup of cottage cheese has 460 mg; two slices of American cheese, 540 mg.

Poultry: A four-ounce chicken breast contains as much as 350 mg-and that's before you doctor it up.

"Instant" options: It's not just the well-known culprits (canned soup, flavored rice, pasta sauce). Four small pancakes made with Aunt Jemima's Original mix contain 740 mg of sodium, and a half cup of Jell-O Instant Lemon Pudding has 310 mg.

有时你并不自知，钠却已经悄悄地在你的体内积聚。

一个成年人一天的标准钠摄取量在1500毫克至2300毫克之间，而一个美国人每天的平均摄取量却可达到标准的两倍，大大推高了血压。爱吃咸饼干的人不见得都得高血压症，可恰恰有七千三百万人不幸中招。最新研究表明因高血压致死的女性超过了男性的数量，服食口服避孕药的女性发病率更是上升了两三倍。

就算你不在食物中撒盐，你的盐分摄取量就已经不少了，比如加工食品中就有盐分，虽然很多时候尝起来并不咸。现在并没有明文规定加工商最多在食品中加入多少盐分，就算美国食品药品管理局也只是笼统地说“建议适量添加”，所以美国医药协会和其它社会团体正努力引起当局的注意，以便能尽快出台详尽的规定。

盐分累积的速度惊人，因此，请尽量避免一次性食用含钠量超过500毫克的食物。下面的这些食品也应引起大家的注意：

面包：一个圈饼的含钠量可达到450毫克，相当于一份麦当劳中薯条含钠量的两倍。两片Pepperidge农场全麦面包含钠360毫克。

奶制品：半块农家乳酪（cottage cheese）含钠量为460毫克；两片美国乳酪（American cheese）则为540毫克。

鸡肉：113.4克（4盎司）的鲜鸡胸肉含有350毫克的钠，可以想象调味以后盐分会更高。

“即食”、“速溶”、“半成品”：臭名昭著的罐装汤品、多味米饭、意大利面酱汁我们就不再重申了。四小块用吉米玛大婶（Aunt Jemima）的原味混合料做成的薄饼含钠量达到740毫克，而半块捷奥（Jell-O）即食柠檬布丁含钠310毫克。