New Heart Patient Member

"Processed" foods have nothing to do with cardiac health. In my case, I was put on a low-sodium diet (and I was 25 so bounced back pretty easily). The Cliffs notes: Read the labels carefully on packaged things like cereals (it's surprising how much salt they'll put in cereal), rice mixes, salad dressings, etc. Shrimp tends to naturally have more sodium than fin fish. Learn to use non-salt seasonings--Penzey's Spices or The Spice House is your friend. You will likely be doing a lot more cooking from scratch (no pre-seasoned meats, for example, because the supermarket idea of seasoning is salt). We do a lot of grilling and roasting.

I'm not at home right now so don't have my cookbooks handy, but I know I have one with a yellow cover by Donald Gazzaniga, as well as one called "The Low-Sodium Gourmet," which I think is from the '70s and is a little more fussy-fancy than I care for. Luckily for you this is the age of the Internet (2002 wasn't so much) and there are websites and groups available for people on low-sodium diets. I've also learned to modify recipes to fit my needs.

Good luck, there's definitely a learning curve, but as you get used to using less salt you won't miss it as much.

kgideon2011 wrote: »

Technically speaking, yes bread is processed and I have to be careful about which bread I choose. I don't eat it very often so I would really like to enjoy it when I do. And, lmorgi, you are right about cereals. I was quite surprised.

We quite like Nature's Own for supermarket bread, and we also like to bake our own (giving ultimate control over the sodium!).

Spreads and dips:

Olive oil with garlic and No-Salt salt substitute.

Guacamole: avocado, diced tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, garlic, pepper and "No-Salt" salt substitute all blended together, everything optional except avocado.

Roasted red pepper, a diced tomato, basil, olive oil, garlic, oregano, "No-Salt" and pepper cooked over low heat should be the consistency of a relish... Great spread, especially over goat cheese. And I add a drop of balsamic vinegar to top it off.

These are just a few of my favorite low sodium, heart healthy spreads and dips!!

ljmorgi wrote: »

Emmapatterson1729 wrote: »

I had congestive heart failure 20 years ago. Still to this day, even though my heart healed, I avoid extremely high sodium foods and drinks (especially Gatorade, beef jerky, etc.).

I use "No-Salt" salt substitute. I did cut out almost all processed foods and started eating only whole foods. Cooking a protein and veggies in unsalted real butter with a little "No-Salt" and pepper became my way of life for a long while.

Just started cooking with a lot of coconut oil and olive oil a few weeks ago and cutting back on butter. And No-Salt salt substitute has a really good taste.

Good luck!!

What salt substitute do you use? I've tried the potassium-based ones and they taste terrible to me. I'm assuming the salt substitute technology has improved in the last fifteen years?

I tried many that tasted terrible also. I found that the one called "Original No Salt" actually taste decent. It doesn't taste good to cook with but to add it to prepared foods tastes decent.