How do YOU Cope with Low Sodium Diet?

I rarely ADD salt to anything, and I avoid "prepared" foods. That sounds like the core problem: Packaged foods, which are full of other junk, too. I use lemon juice from FRESH lemons (the kind in plastic isn't good) to season fish and vegetables. I really like it and don't like salty things anymore at all. Cooking and eating "real foods" ends up being far tastier than packaged ones, too -- and less costly.

Hello @soloact, thanks for responding. Yes, unfortunately prepared foods seem to be loaded with sodium.
Lemon juice seems like it just might add some of that lost flavor most of us have grown accustomed to with the use of salt.
Sounds like it would an excellent choice on fish and vegetables. Seems like most of us have gotten away from the way many of our grandparents or great grandparents cooked with a lot of fresh vegetables from their garden.

Hello @soloact, How long have you been on a low sodium diet?

I don't even think of myself as being "on a low-sodium diet." I'm more conscious of not adding salt nor eating really salty things such as potato chips since my heart failure diagnosis last year, but I haven't been salting food more than a teeny bit (occasionally and depending on what kind of food) for at least a decade, probably. There are so many other things that are tastier. Salsa with eggs, for instance. Lemon juice for many green vegetables, rice vinegar for some things. You lost your taste for it after a while. And "salted caramel" and all the emphasis on salted everything and bacon with the oddest things is a disturbing trend that irritates me. It's just the sugar push all over again.

I love, love fresh fruit and vegetables, and eating them when they're in season and taste the best is joyful. There are new ones every month. I appreciate peaches and blueberries and strawberries so much more when I eat the real thing, grown locally, rather than the bland thing shipped thousands of miles off-season. Even the frozen blueberries I put in yogurt or oatmeal are pretty tasteless, even though they are more nutritious than anything that comes in a can or box are already made into something other than what it is naturally.

Also, if you read the books by doctors about what to do to slow the progression of heart diseases or prevent it, they ALL emphasize what Michael Pollen says: "Eat real food. Not too much." Marion Nestle's books are good, too.

I do not like books that create false hope by doctors who are selling supplements or the same book over and over with different titles. Even so, I have found value in all of these, and you can probably find them at your local library:

Mark Hyman, MD's information about eating is sound (except extreme detox diets). Try "Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?"

I mentioned Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, and should have mentioned this book by her: "What to Eat."

These two books have good information, too (the co-author of the second one has a PhD in nutrition, but calls himself Dr. Jonny, and Sinatra is controversial with some people, and he sells supplements -- at reasonable prices, though):

"The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up: A Breakthrough Medical Plan to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Stephen Masley (This is one of those titles that I alluded to. Irresponsible. Yet the info is largely helpful. Also, as someone who has written a published book, I can tell you it's the marketing people who choose and push the titles, not usually the author.)

"The Great Cholesterol Myth Now Includes 100 Recipes for Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease-and the Statin-Free Plan that Will" by Jonny Bowden and Stephen Sinatra

IMPORTANT disclaimer:
DO NOT change your medication based on information in ANY book without consulting with your doctor or at least getting a second opinion from a physician face-to-face.

Hello @soloact, It's good that you have been conscious about not adding salt nor eating salty things much of 10 years.
Oh, salsa and eggs are really good. I really like a Spanish dish served in Texes called Huevos Rancheros. Of course we now have to make it without salt but still is very good. Basicly salsa and eggs with corn tortillas. Corn tortillas have very little sodium.
No more bacon, ham, cold cuts, do to the amount of sodium. Living in New Orleans we have acquired a taste for well seasoned food but not necessary pepper hot. My main ingredients I use is, granulated onion powder, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper (not to much), and Turmeric. Cayenne pepper adds a flavor where you don't really notice the salt is missing in some foods.
Adding ketchup to some things also works wonders when doing away with salt. I strictly cook with NO SALT.
One of the traditional meals usually served on Monday is red beans and rice. There are many different ways to cook red beans and rice depending on the amount of beans and the seasonings used. It's the one thing I have not been able to find anything to take the place of sausage or salt.

Hello @soloact, Yes, fresh fruit and vegetables are very good. We generally will go to a fruit stand hoping to get fresh and very tasty fruit while is season. It's rare that we find very flavorful fruit in stores. There usually picked green and ripen in warehouses, not too good, I haven't heard of these books but only purchased low sodium cookbooks on Amazon. One I really like is, 500 Low Sodium Recipes, by Dick Logue. I have even attempted making my own bread and biscuits following some of the recipes in the book along with some on Youtube.

Hello @soloact, Sounds like you are really up on some good information in your books you mentioned.
Though I'm a decent reader I have never been too much on reading books. Seams I'm always working with my hands. I much prefer to watch a video. Seams I learn much quicker and recall more info with videos. I have tried for years to talk Drs and hospital staff into making videos to help educate patients or loved ones when long term care is needed at home. Including the proper ways to care for a patients required needs as well as the precautions of doing the improper things would be exceptionally helpful in Patient/Caregiver Education. From chatting with you on this post I feel like you are a "very wise lady."

Lee & Perrins sauce for red beans and rice is the secret ingredient, to me, and you can probably find low-salt or reduced-salt sausage if you think that's the secret ingredient. Try turkey kind, rather than pork? It has added spices. But pork, especially bacon, are just death-wish food if you have heart failure. Ketchup is filled with salt and hides the taste of food. Maybe start going to your local farmer's market every week? This is a great time of year. You'll find beautiful colors, an ever-changing array of fruits and vegetables that have so much more taste than even at produce stands and certainly better than in any stores, plus it's a festive atmosphere and helps support your local farmers.

There are endless videos about low-salt eating and cooking (and probably caretaking, too, since you mentioned that. Most are on YouTube, but there are probably some on Vimeo and longer ones on TEDtalks, too. There are even recipes for low-salt recipes and cooking demos. So: Next reason you can't do this, please? 😉

Congestive Heart Failure and Low-Sodium Diet (5:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOp9uWpqNPc

13 Ways To Successfully Lower Your Salt Intake, by a doctor (5:28)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszxmngbHv0

How to Reduce Your Salt Intake (1:40)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzsvXoxH8rM

There are even a lot of videos with low-salt recipes and cooking demos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=low+salt+cooking

And here's one on groceries, even:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPqpMw-FvyU&list=PLh3OM_vPudZ6liJoVr1yTJoXgsf5VCShA