Low-Salt Eating

Recently I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease because of ringing and pressure in my ears. The doctor recommended I reduce my salt and caffeine intake. And over the holidays I thought I was being a bit careful. But when my ears didn't cleared for over two weeks, I decided I should pay more attention and eat very little salt to see if it would have an effect.

I started by looking on the internet at what exactly was meant by a low-sodium diet. Various sites had different recommendations for salt intake, but many agreed that one teaspoon of salt per day was the top limit of what people should have. It contains 2325 mg of sodium. Others recommended a daily intake of 400 - 1000 mg.

I decided to shoot for the lower range and began keeping a daily food diary. Keeping my sodium low was more of a challenge than I imagined it could possibly be. Since I usually eat at least one meal out with a friend each day, I tried to keep my sodium level in my home cooking as low as possible and hoped that the meal I chose out would stay within my limit.

It worked. After 3 days my ears cleared and I felt much better. OK, I can do this I thought. I'll just cook at home as much as possible and not add salt to anything. Right? Well, not entirely. I began reading labels. Even prepared ingredients have sodium in them. Ketchup, mustard, bread, cheese and even frozen peas.

Now, to choose recipes and make some yummy dishes at home. Since I have fresh eggs from my chickens I decided I would make my favorite egg dish. It also calls for jack cheese, cottage cheese and green chilies. No salt needed with the chilies I thought. Wow, was I wrong. For dinner I decided on a homemade chicken pot pie. Simple ingredients. Chicken cooked with no added salt, frozen peas - oops - 200 mg of sodium per serving. I bought low-sodium chicken broth, which only had a whopping 570 mg of sodium. Needless to say, I'm feeling some extra pressure in my ears this evening. The pot pie was scrumptious, but worth it? I'm not sure.

I'm going to make low-sodium home cooking a priority and a project. I'm going to search cookbooks and the internet for recipes. Homemade breads and salad dressings, plus cooking with lots of vegetables seasoned with herbs will be my focus.