I will be following a low sodium diet.

The cardiac catherization this past Thursday (two days ago) went fine, no clogged arteries. The doctor however said I need to have a low fat, low salt diet (1500 mg a day) - to get the blood pressure under control. Low fat is not a problem I have been doing that forever, however when you combine that with low salt it is almost impossible (a lot of low sodium foods are high in fat).

I haven’t been posting much because I’m still trying wrap my brain around how I’m going to do this, and at this point feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and not sure what to do.

The daily sodium limit for healthy folks is 2000 to 2400 mg depending on what chart you read. I am suppose to be on 1500 mg a day or less. (The Rice House diet recommends 1000 mg a day but prefers 300 to 500 mg when possible).

The body only NEEDS 300 mg of sodium a day.

1500 mg adds up fast. Even celery is high in sodium (35 mg per stalk). My 0 fat, 0 calories dressings I can no longer use - over 200 mg of sodium in one Tbl., and who uses just 1 for a big bowl of lettuce. And who wants to eat just lettuce with nothing on it (and I refuse to use oil and vinegar because oil is 100% fat and I won’t touch it with a 10 foot pole because of the calories and my diet is suppose to be low fat anyway).

I can no longer have my favorite low calorie, almost no fat treat — grilled cheese sandwich with 80 calories for 2 slices o diet bread and 60 for two slices of diet cheese because the cheese is over 200 mg a slice, and I don’t even want to look at the diet bread to see what that is. I also can’t use my favorite 2 calorie dry flavoring for my air popcorn (I can still eat the popcorn just plain, its tasteless but filling at least).

Basically a low sodium diet means no cheese (very little dairy at all actually), no baked goods, no canned, prepared or prepackaged foods (except for expensive, hard to find and only a few no sodium added items), and very very few condiments, no soda. Even chicken and turkey have to be watched since the stores “plump” it up with sodium loaded broth and most of the time you don’t even know it.

So the choices left are plain grains and legumes (too high in calories for me), veggies and fruit, and a little protein. There are some recipes out there — but it requires a lot of cooking and preparing - something I don’t have time or interest in. Things like beans need to be cooked a long time (can’t use the canned ones any more) - but since they are so high in calories I don’t eat them any way. In desparation I may try oatmeal for a few dinners as long as I can find a low sodium low fat soy milk (low fat milk actually has more sodium then regular milk). I am hoping that a 1/2 cup oatmeal will be filling enough but I doubt it.

With low sodium it means no more 99% fat free turkey slices, no small tastes of anything for a little treat, no more frozen dinners, reading every single package even more carefully then I already do — the whole idea of it is very bleak. I have to get all new cookbooks and a pocket guide for sodium in every day foods. I also want to get a steamer (I saw a nice large 2 comppartment one on Amazon) so that veggie and once in awhile rice prep is easy, and I can cut down on using the microwave (which kills most of the nutrients any way).

My hubby is trying to be supportive - but he keeps saying “you lost weight before and doing it now by cutting calories and fat, so don’t worry about the salt.” I try to explain to him that the sodium part of it is NOT about losing weight - it’s about the blood pressure and heart. I would be perfectly happy not worrying about sodium - but it’s the doctor who says I have to, so what do you want me to do. He doesn’t have an answer.

I know I’m driving him a bit crazy — he likes to eat out now and then and we are planning a vacation in late August — and all I can do is whimper because I have no clue how I’m going to travel and eat. I can only pack so much fruit and veggies. At this point I’m refusing to eat out at all until I figure out what to do.

Doing low calorie and low fat, once in awhile you can “cheat” a little and make up the calories some where else. But when you have to do low sodium, you can’t just go off one day or splurge on a big salty meal and keep it low for the rest of the day to compensate — because the sodium affects your blood pressure, water retention, your overall health and it can take a long time to recover from just one day of indugling.

Food will have to be for nourishment only, and forget about taste, comfort, or recreation even occasionally. I don’t mind that part really - I just worry about being hungry, because when my blood sugar gets too low I can’t function. I just need to start making a list of foods that I can have, that also keep my blood sugar and hunger levels manageable. It’s going to be a very short list.

Here’s a little info. I’ve found so far:

  • The Food and Drug Administration recommends 2000 milligrams (mg) daily.
  • Most Americans not watching their sodium intake consume 7000-8000 mg daily.
  • People who avoid adding salt at the table may still consume 3000-4000 mg daily.
  • Many experts recommend less than 1500 mg daily for people with a history of heart trouble, high blood pressure or other risk factors for heart disease.

Salt Kills 150,000 a Year, Says CSPI Report
The bulk of Americans’ salt intake is not coming from the salt shaker. Only about 11 percent percent of sodium in the diet comes from salt added while eating or cooking.

“The high sodium content of the American diet—mostly from processed foods—represents an enormous health problem,” said Dr. Claude Lenfant, president of the World Hypertension League. “If we could reduce the sodium in processed and restaurant foods by half, we could save about 150,000 lives per year.”

I have my work cut out for me that’s for sure and lots to learn, but I’m up to it - I know I can do it!

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