Allez Cuisine!

On Thursday I meet with my cardiologist for some more bloodwork and a checkup. I expect that there won't be much to discuss as I would be getting the blood tests earlier that morning. I am eagerly awaiting the results to see if my trigylcerides have come down any further. Since my medication hasn't changed since last visit (if you recall, the Omacor wasn't working for me) and that my body is healing very slowly, I'd imagine that it will be in the 500 range. That's great news from when I was around 1400 around Christmas, but if you consider that anything over 300 is dangerously high, there's always cause for concern. I'm sure that he'll ask me to try the Omacor again....

I'm partially guilty, as I have been a little, shall we say, looser with my diet. I am not drinking alcohol or sodas, but I do engage in some orange juice or semi-sweet chocolate from time to time. I have also slightly increased my carbohydrate intake in an attempt to gain some more weight. I have succeeded in gaining (and keeping) about 2 pounds since the beginning of the year. But I am still 14 pounds less than my normal weight before the illness.

Sodium

One of the requirements of my diet is to manage my sodium, as it causes me to retain fluid. This is a hard call, as the sodium also increases my low blood pressure and makes me feel better. So, I need to choose whether or not to feel good and limp around, or feel miserable and be mobile. More recently, I've decided on the latter.

The average person gets 2.5 to 4 grams or sodium a day. My goal is 500mg a day, although in reality I end up pushing a little over 1 gram a day. My body seems to tolerate a little extra sodium, but should I eat something like a slice of pizza, or a can of soup -- I turn into a sponge. Seriously.

The answer? Low sodium cooking. It's a pain in the ass to cook regular meals -- so to prepare a special meal takes a lot of time and dedication.

Here's a challenge for you the next time you go to the store: try to find ingredients for a single meal without going over 500mg of sodium in all ingredients combined. Start looking at all of the labels and knock yourself out. It's much harder than you think.

You really have to go on a scavenger hunt for special low-sodium foods, and stick to eating them over and over. I usually have to go to Whole Foods or Wild Oats for speciality low-sodium alternatives, and they are usually not cheap. When desparate you can always order them online.

Ok, so you've spent your life savings on special ingredients, and you cook something with them. The result: meals that taste very plain. You take one bite and say, "This needs something... oh yeah, salt". Low Sodium Cooking is a good website for low-sodium recipes that actually taste good. I made the Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore this past weekend, and it was very delicious.

I'd love to hear about your low-sodium recipes if you're willing to share. I'm not an Iron Chef yet, but I'm getting there.

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