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Visiting physician confirmed my suspicions yesterday and told us hubby is still in Congestive Heart Failure. I had a DASH diet cookbook (someplace) but even though my husband isn’t a fussy eater, I have to feed him more than salads, grilled chicken, fish and turkey burgers. Any cookbooks you really like? Thanks!

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This struck me as bizarre! I haven’t cooked with salt for two decades, and we never have salt on the table. You can make any meal low sodium just by leaving the salt out. And of course by not buying preprocessed food that is already salted. Many many people of our age grew up when salt was an ‘of course’. It takes a while to adjust to the taste of the actual food, but that is all you need to do. In the meantime, chuck in anything else that has a stronger taste – chili, vinegar etc. We occasionally have salt as a flavour, eg on soft boiled egg, but we certainly don’t limit our food to the list you gave.
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If I wanted to add lots of flavour without salt I'd turn to Indian cookery. The ingredients' list looks daunting to start with but once you get going it really isn't; and the commonest elements, like ginger, garlic and turmeric, are health heroes. You can't go wrong :)

Um. You know you're not going to reverse CHF through diet alone no matter how strict you are, yes?
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Ahmijoy Oct 2018
Yes, CM, I know that and it’s very scary. Every time he coughs, I cringe and my heart falls. I’d like to see him go to the hospital like last time and be cathererized to drain all this excess fluid. They doubled his diuretics and I’ve cut his fluid consumption just about in half. But the cough is still there. If I could manage to get him out, I’d like to take him to his cardio. I’m doing all I can and praying very hard.
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I buy a product on Amazon (since I can't find it in my local stores) called Massel All Purpose Bouillon & Seasoning (in the cans)... it comes in chicken, beef, and vegetable flavor. It's totally vegan (even the chicken and beef flavors) but what I like about it is the sodium content, a mere 7% for a full *1/2 CUP* serving of the chicken or beef flavor (8% for veg). Most bouillons are 30% or higher for just one cube. Cost is $16 for six 4.2 oz. cans of the chicken. MSG/Cholesterol/Gluten/Transfat/Sugar/Lactose free.

It's not only delicious as broth to drink, but can be used for sauteing meats and vegetables, giving them enough of a salty taste to satisfy without overdoing it. Massel actually advertises doing that on the product label.

Thought it might be helpful during the transition from salt to no salt diet. And as so many other helpful readers have suggested, avoid processed and prepared foods.
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My husband has congestive heart failure caused by Frontal Temporal Dementia. His cardiologist also recommended low sodium diet....less than 1500 mg. daily. No problem for our family. We have cooked organic foods (meats, vegetables, grains, fruits, etc. ) "from scratch" for many years. Have not had to change the diet much....just no canned fish or meats and no processed foods. We also have a bread making machine that we make all our bread with. In cooking recipes for him, I use American Heart recipes, leave out all sodium, then baking & cooking is fine. Adapt & adjust recipes, leaving out the sodium. After he came home from Nursing Home, this worked so well that he was able to totally eliminate the Lasix he had been on. Good luck....this is a lot of work. But it has been successful for us. Even his cardiologist told me at his last visit...."let him eat what he wants, he will not get much any amount of sodium the way you cook food." Read labels for sodium content on everything you purchase. Or....purchase plain raw foods & prepare at home. It has been successful for us. God bless!
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Ahmijoy Oct 2018
Thanks! Great ideas!
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There's a blog called Hacking Salt - I found some tasty ideas there.
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Does your husband complain about the monotony of his diet? If so, can you switch up the spices and serve sliced turkey with gravy, turkey tacos, turkey hash, fish/seafood chowder, grilled fish, fish fillets sautéed in a whole wheat crust, a non salt mayo based fish or meat salad with raw veggie dippers, whole grain or bean based pasta with red or white sauce and chicken?

If I’m eating food that I really enjoy, I don’t need or expect a lot of variety. If husband isn’t a fussy eater, you may be tired of cooking same/similar meals that he still enjoys.

There are some foods I miss (cheese-miss it a LOT) BUT I stopped eating salt for another health reasons, and I was surprised at how little I missed it.

I also use Mrs. Dash in a few of the different flavors available.
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I cook same food as always but do not add salt. Use a Mrs Dash mixture with some pink salt added to it or some 50/50 lite salt. We keep it in a salt shaker. My mom is on low salt and as long as there's something flavorful she doesn't miss the bunch of added salt that she used to use.
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Judysai422 Oct 2018
Before using a salt substitute, not Mrs. Dash, check with doctor as some cannot be used when some medical conditions exist.
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The only thing I can add to all this good advice is, watch the sugar. Many processed foods that are "low Sodium" have added sugar to make them taste better.
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You can flavor meat up with marinades ... some kind of acid like vinegar, citrus, or wine, then add herbs and garlic. Smoked paprika is really good on beef or pork.
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If there is a Trader Joe's near you, they carry a no sodium Marinara sauce. I saute veggies and add them to the sauce...simmer and add herb seasonings and pepper. it is g reat over meatloaf, and pasta.
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