How to eat an elephant...

When we talk about reducing sodium, most people get resistant, because they don't want to sacrifice taste. Or they'll say something like, "I'm not on a sodium-restricted diet so I don't have to worry about that". Well, time to wake up and notice that elephant in the room! We ALL need to reduce our sodium intake, and that is a fact. But how do you do it without being miserable? One bite at a time...

As this blog progresses, we will get more agressive with reducing sodium. But when you first start, you need to do a little at a time. This will allow your taste buds to adjust and not even notice that you removed the salty stuff. So taking peanut butter as an example...most of us eat regular Jif or Skippy, because it tastes so good. If you're a fan of natural peanut butter (the kind you need to stir), with no additives, good for you! But switching immediately to the natural kind when you are used to the other is difficult, and so most of us will fall back into our old, not so good, habits. That's why you switch to a lower sodium product first. Then down the road you can go to the one with the least sodium and your taste buds will adjust.

So if you are finding it challenging to go low-sodium, just try making one change at a time. Start by eliminating that salt shaker. Sea Salt is not any better, so toss that as well. And then switch from salted butter to UNSALTED butter. Little by little, as you alter the ingredients you use, you won't even notice the difference, but your body will!

Last year, as my son was diagnosed with his kidney disorder, Mike had gone for his annual physical. His blood pressure was elevated and his cholesterol was a bit high; for the first time in his life, our doctor prescribed blood pressure medication for him. When he came home with the prescription, we talked about it, and decided to see what we could do by following a low-sodium diet plan instead. Three months later, when he went for his recheck, both his blood pressure and cholesterol were within healthy levels. The doctor wanted to renew the prescription until Mike told him what we had done. He was thrilled, and a year later, WITHOUT any meds, Mike's blood pressure and cholesterol are fine!!