Salt makes everything taste better. Yet for those of us in heart failure it is the devil in disguise.
I love salt! Chips and salsa are one of my faves! Until I was diagnosed with heart failure I had no idea how much salt/sodium I was actually consuming. I did not realize that almost everything has sodium in it. Why is sodium so bad? Again, I am not a doctor, but my understanding is that it can cause fluid retention in those of us with heart failure. Sodium hangs onto water. That's a no beuno for those of us who have hearts that struggle to pump out fluid. My doctor recommended I eat 1,500 mg of sodium per day. However, I found my body is very sensitive to sodium. For me to not retain fluids I can only have about 1,200 mg of sodium per day.
How Much Sodium?
Until I was diagnosed with heart failure, I had not idea how much salt/sodium I was actually consuming.
Follow the recommendations from your doctor. They will know what is best for you. For me, my doctor recommended I eat 1,500 mg of sodium per day. However, I found my body is very sensitive to sodium. For me to not retain fluids I can only consume about 1,200 mg of sodium per day. It is worth discovering what works for you.
Food is Bland without Salt, Right?
Going from eating salt/sodium willy nilly whenever I wanted to throwing away the salt shaker. It. Was. Hard! Everything tasted bland! Nothing tasted good. I love cooking and I love eating tasty food. After being released from the hospital nothing tasted good. I felt like all the joy of cooking and eating was gone. It became an arduous task that had to be done to maintain life. That is no way to live! I became determined to find a way to make food tolerable again.
Exploration
I had to branch out and try spices I had never heard of before.
I soon discovered Americans seem to be addicted to sodium. There were very few options when it came to sodium. I had to really search to find low sodium foods and spices that I thought tasted good. I had to branch out and try spices I had never heard of before. I had to try making foods and recipes from parts of the world I had never imagined.
Get Creative
Ultimately, I had to get creative. Most ready-to-eat food has a TON of sodium. As such, I discovered I have to make most things from scratch. It is hard work when you are already exhausted from having a failing heart, but it is so much better for you and doesn't have all of the sodium. How do you get creative with your food?
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