Salt is one of the most basic flavors that people can taste. Made up primarily of sodium -- salt is officially called sodium chloride -- it also contains one of the four cationic electrolytes that are needed for optimal bodily function. Too much or too little salt can lead to muscle cramps, dizziness or electrolyte disturbance.

We've all heard that we should lower our sodium intake, but in fact, some salt is an essential part of a healthy diet. Sodium helps balance bodily fluids and transmit nerve impulses throughout the body. Additionally, salt helps muscles contract and relax. In addition to it's functions within the body, salt preserves food so that it stays fresh longer. Many chefs love it, too, because it brings out food's natural flavors.

Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. Your body only needs a couple of hundred milligrams of salt per day to stay healthy. Consuming too much salt on a daily basis can cause problems like fluid retention and high blood pressure.

"Keep sodium consumption between 1,500 and 2,300 mg per day," says Katherine Zeratsky, RD, LD, a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center at Mayo Clinic. "People with high blood pressure, African-Americans and anyone middle-aged or older should aim for the low end of that range."

Avoiding the salt shaker isn't enough to counter eating high amounts of salt intake. Processed foods are responsible for 77 percent of the sodium we eat.

The solution to keeping your salt intake in check is simple: Stick to natural foods whenever possible and flavor your favorite dishes with spices like pepper, cumin, basil and oregano.

Test Your Sodium Smarts: Take Our Seriously Salty Fast Foods Quiz

Once That's Fit has answered all of your nutrition questions, check out our fitness tips to help you get fit.

Butternut squash soup is a Fall favorite of mine, and I often make enough to freeze so that we can enjoy it into the winter months. So when I saw a commercial for Cambell's V8 soup -- which includes a butternut squash variety -- I was intrigued. Can Campbell's match my homemade recipe? Is it really a healthy option?

It was on sale, so I figured, "Why not?" I bought a box and served it to three family members for lunch yesterday. Here are some of their thoughts:

• "Sweet and creamy."
• "Pretty good."
• "I'd eat it again."
• "Not as good as yours." (That one from my husband. Smart guy.)

You're watching fat and calories, but are you watching sodium levels too? Even "healthy" fast foods can be high in salt.

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"Antioxidant." It's one of the new, big buzzwords in nutrition. Even if you don't know what they are, you likely know that they're important. And marketers of processed foods are banking on that, hoping you'll choose something like Snapple's Antioxidant Water over plain water from your tap, because you want to be healthy.

Forbes has a great gallery of surprising sources of antioxidants, including everything from hot chocolate to muffins to sorbet, all touting their antioxidant content. But are these foods really better for you? Not in my opinion. Oh, sure, an antioxidant rich muffin might have better nutritional content than a regular muffin (and probably costs more too). But at the end of a day, it's still a muffin, likely high in calories, sugar, and fat.

Making antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies -- also high in fiber and low in calories -- a regular part of your diet seems like a better plan to me. Getting consistently good nutrition will also allow you to enjoy a treat now and then, free from worry over whether it's infused with extra antioxidants or not.

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What does work, even if you're trying to lose weight, is adding foods to your diet -- fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, whole grains -- and replacing less nutritious foods with these lighter, healthier choices. Not only can you make some pretty delicious and satisfying meals out of simple, wholesome ingredients, you can also lose weight while enjoying food again. According to the NYT, dieters everywhere are starting to realize this. Good for them, I think. Because as someone who has a dieting history, I can attest -- dieting stinks, and it isn't effective.

The difference between the two approaches, of course, is speed. When a person diets, the weight comes off quickly, though it usually stalls or gets gained back just as fast. The more moderate approach, which puts the emphasis back on enjoying good food, is slower. But it's a lifestyle that can be maintained and enjoyed for life, unlike a diet. And if you've ever taken the weight off once, you know ... you never want to have to do it again.

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We dye our hair, dye our clothing, dye our paint to color our walls ... but do we really need to dye our food? No, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group. They want the FDA to ban eight food colorings that they believe pose a health risk to humans, particularly children. The dyes include Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Yellow 6.

The FDA doesn't appear to be budging on their stance that food dyes have been proven safe. The group is asking the FDA to require a warning label on foods that contain these dyes in the interim.

Food dyes aren't required in whole foods, so they're usually used to make a food with little nutrition look more appealing or to make it bright and colorful so it will appeal to kids. To reduce your family's exposure to food dyes, stick to a diet of fruits, veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains, and avoid processed foods.

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Most nutritionists will tell you that the safest, healthiest way to lose weight is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and plenty of fiber. But many people aren't ready to give up the foods they love, and they depend on diet foods to have their cake and eat it too. Sugar-free foods, pre-portioned snacks, and diet dinners are all very popular with people who are struggling to lose weight.

But do these heavily processed foods really aide weight loss? The jury seems to still be out, according to this article from MSNBC. Diet soda drinkers, for instance, are usually heavier than people who don't drink soda at all. And those 100-calorie snack packs are great, as long as you can stick to one pack. Frozen diet dinners, such as Lean Cuisine, get a thumbs up for veggie content and perfectly sized portions, but are loaded with sodium.

I think it's a matter of personal preference and also a matter of balance. If you're eating sugar-free Jello all day long, you'll probably lose weight, but you won't be getting the vitamins and antioxidants you need in your diet. On the other hand, if you have a raging sweet tooth and fruit isn't cutting it, a 100-calorie pack of cookies is better than eating a whole box. What do you think? Do processed diet foods have their place in a healthy menu?

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It's estimated that Americans are getting at least twice the amount of sodium they need every day, if not more. Sodium is a problem because it contributes -- among other things -- to high blood pressure. Hypertension contributes to cardiovascular disease, and since heart disease is the number one killer in America...well...you can see why it's in our best interest to reduce the amount of sodium we eat.

Processed foods are a big source of added salt, so one of the easiest ways to reduce sodium in your diet is to eat fresh, whole foods rather than those that are boxed or frozen. According to Ediets, there are several other ways to reduce your daily intake of sodium, including these:

• Leave the salt out of your recipes and let everyone salt their own dish at the table.
• When using canned goods, choose low-salt varieties or rinse before using.
• Make your own salad dressings.
• Pass on salty lunch meats and prepare your own meats at home.

How do you reduce sodium in your daily diet?

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Organic diets are my favorite: there's a lack of nutritionally-deplete vegetables, natural tastes without the need for chemicals and ready availability. Is this the diet that was intended for the human body? How about calling an organic diet "God's Diet?"

100 years ago, there weren't food factories. Or preservatives. Or additives. Or mass manufacturing. All those combined with the need for profit gave rise to the processed food industry that most of American nibbles on every day.

Jim and Judi Mahaney readily call organic foods "God's Diet." The couple reviews food labels looking for chemical names they cannot pronounce, among other things. Judi says that she shops "for all the things that God made for us to eat, not the man-made things that companies have created for us. It's the food that God created -- the berries, fruits, and nuts, the plants and all the vegetables and herbs, and certain animals and fish."

Regardless of a belief in a higher power, what's your reason for consuming a natural and organic diet?

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I've never understood how food companies can get away with using the term "all natural" on any processed food that contains so many unnatural ingredients and preservative chemicals. But they do, although there is a constant fight from natural food advocates who chide companies like Kraft and General Mills every single day.

What is the definition of the word "natural" when used on any food product? There is none. You see, the commercial food industry is so lax on any standard that anything can be called, well, anything. Prescription drug products (and OTC drug products) are heavily regulated when it comes to labeling -- why not food products?

Most likely, because cost customers would would have a fit if they knew what they were really eating when consuming that white bread and packaged spray cheese. Nothing is "all natural" unless it was picked from the ground or cut from an animal that had no hormones, chemicals or other substances as part of a product. Unfortunately, almost 100% of the normal American diet does not conform to anything near the literal meaning of "all natural."

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Heavily processed foods have been blamed for the ever-expanding waistlines of the human population, as well as a number of health problems. But humans aren't the only ones affected by how our food is made. According to this article, animals at the zoo in Seoul, Korea, have become so overweight from their diet of processed foods that they are going on a strict diet.

I think this is very unfortunate -- it's one thing for humans to cause their own health problems by giving into their cravings, but it's another when harmless animals are being fed junk food when they're helpless to do anything about it -- especially because it probably boils down to the zookeepers being too frugal to purchase real foods for the animals.

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In the winter, I love to cook. But the past few days have been sweltering and the thought of cooking over a stove top or heating up my oven makes me sweat just thinking about it. So when I saw an article from MSNBC about No-Cook Dieting, I was intrigued. If you have a microwave and a toaster, you'll be able to follow this 1600-calorie-per-day plan without a problem, and you won't have to lift so much as a stirring spoon!

The plan is heavy on processed foods -- frozen dinners, hot cocoa, canned soups -- but includes plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean proteins as well. If you're going out to dinner too often and are tired of eating super-sized restaurant portions, or if you just want to beat the heat in your kitchen, it may be worth taking a look at this eating plan.

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I'd venture to say that one of the hardest challenges parents of small children (and teenagers as well) face is to try and get their kids eating and drinking healthy products. The constant barrage of TV advertising around junk food and fast food along with the "toys" that come in fast food meals are incredibly hard to overcome for any parent.

After all, marketers will do anything to sell more product, even if it means poisoning kids in the process. Ever seen a normal child drink a soft drink at 9pm at night?That's a study in blood glucose if anything is.

Even though it's hard to combat the crappy foods that almost all kids seem to eat these days, ensuring your child receives doses of whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables and decent sources of calcium (hint: more than from dairy) is about as good a duty as parents as there ever was.

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Ever heard of a "processed" food? Just about everywhere you look, foods that are nutritionally poor but very tasty abound. I don't generally call these products " foods" at all, but more like fake, tasty creations.

The word "food" should be saved for products and items that have some sort of natural beginning along with having significant sources of nutrition. Think that morning doughnut or fast food burger is "food?" I won't call those items that, but feel free to continue if you'd like!

This review gives a great distinction in the history of processed foods and nutrition -- and how changes in our diets, in the last 100 years, has led to where we are today. It's really no surprise we're fatter than ever and so many health problems plague industrialized nations. The more industrialized we get, the more of a need for quick and easy foods arises. And there we have it -- processed "foods."

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Don't skip breakfast! You've heard it many times, but somehow life gets in the way and you end up running out the door, breakfast-less once again.

Just in time to re-motivate you, Web MD has published an article with some on-the-go breakfast ideas that they promise you will fit into your briefcase.

First of all, they say the two most important things to look for in a breakfast food are protein and fiber, to keep you full and satisfied. They start off with some easy, healthy suggestions, like grabbing an apple or a banana.

But then -- and I say yikes! -- they quickly lose me with their vast suggestions of highly processed food. OK, sure, true to their promise, Carnation Instant Breakfast will fit in your briefcase. But is it really worth it to sacrifice whole foods for the sake of convenience?

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