Several years ago, I was diagnosed with M.ni.re’s disease, a syndrome
most known for a combination of hearing loss and drop attacks (sudden
vertigo where the world goes topsy-turvy). My diagnosis came after
two years of intermittent hearing loss and tinnitus in one ear. So far,
I’m one of the lucky ones who hasn’t had any drop attacks (yes, that’s
wood you hear me knocking on). Still, my balance is not what it used to
be, and I have associated BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo)
attacks, along with some serious brain fog during my episodes.
The good news is that, while it can be incredibly debilitating,
M.ni.re’s isn’t fatal. Many sufferers can control it with diet and lifestyle
changes: eliminating caffeine, cutting back significantly on alcohol, and
keeping daily sodium to 1,500 milligrams or less.
I’m a food writer, recipe developer, and photographer, and I really
love to eat good food. Until my diagnosis, I always had the luxury of
consuming what I wanted without having to think about it. Now I had
to make changes, and my first thought was, What the @#!%$ am I
going to eat?
I realized I had no idea how much sodium was in my food, so I did
what most people do: I googled. My first question was, How much
sodium is in a teaspoon of salt? Google’s answer didn’t make me
happy. In turns out that a single teaspoon of table salt contains 2,325
milligrams of sodium—30 percent more than I was aiming to consume
in a day! Doesn’t every recipe call for about a teaspoon of salt? OK, I
reasoned, I can just cut way down on the salt in recipes. That should
do it, right?
Unfortunately, there are all sorts of sneaky sodium sources that I
never even realized. While the recommended daily sodium allowance
for a healthy person is 2,500 milligrams, I’ve come to seriously doubt
that most people consume anywhere near that number. Just one slice
of cheese pizza contains about 1,500 milligrams. A plain bagel has
400. That blueberry muffin that doesn’t taste salty at all? It probably
has about 500 milligrams, thanks to the baking powder in it. Heck, a
few cups of kale contains 50 milligrams, and even celery, which is like
eating crunchy air, has 32 milligrams per stalk. My guess is that I was
previously consuming 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams a day.
The first time I went grocery shopping after committing to a
reduced-sodium diet, I found myself standing in the aisle, in shock,
thinking I’d never be able to eat anything good again. Everything I
picked up seemed to have more sodium than I expected. Trying to
figure out what I could eat was overwhelming. I managed to pick up a
few random things and made myself a dinner that tasted like . . . well,
like it needed salt.
I spent about a week wallowing in self-pity, painstakingly monitoring
my sodium intake. On most days I kept it to under 1,000 milligrams
by mostly eating super-plain food. I ate a lot of oatmeal that first
week. Lots and lots of oatmeal.
But it got better. Slowly, as I learned how to amp up flavor with
spices and acids, and my palate adjusted, eating started to become a
joy again and not (for the most part) a stress-induced nightmare.
In this book I share my low-sodium cooking techniques, tips, and
recipes for anyone who needs to manage their sodium. News flash:
I’m not a doctor, and I’m not a nutritionist. Be sure to consult your
doctor regarding recommended nutritional requirements.
Each recipe in this book provides a total sodium count and, where
it makes sense, a per-serving sodium amount. Note that optional ingredients
are factored into the total. To calculate the sodium in a recipe,
I used information from ingredient labels or reliable sources that I
trust, such as the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department
of Agriculture, and the UK Department of Health and Social Care. For
recipes such as the fresh cheeses (pages 105 to 109), where sodium
can’t accurately be calculated from the ingredients, I used a sodium
ion meter to measure the sodium count. That said, the ingredients you
purchase may have different sodium levels than mine. Where it makes
sense, I list specific brands, or alert you to brands that contain less
sodium. I urge you to read labels carefully for sodium levels.
In the first section, I include recipes for low-sodium versions of
pantry staples that you probably currently buy premade, such as condiments,
soup stocks, and breads. These recipes may take a bit more
time and energy, but the effort is well worth it because they save you
both sodium and money.
In the second section, you’ll find recipes for daily dishes, so you
have lots of options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are easily
paired with other recipes for complete low-sodium meals, and most
make use of the low-sodium sauces, condiments, and spice mixes in
the book as well. Because having time to cook—especially if you are
also making your own pantry staples—is a luxury, most of the recipes
are designed to come together quickly, with options for one-pot
mains and yields that give you leftovers for even quicker serving later.
You can also visit my website LowSodiumBigFlavor.com for more
tools to help you manage your daily intake. There you’ll find mealplan
suggestions that make it easy to keep within a 1,200 to 1,800
milligram daily range. I also provide a searchable database of approximate
sodium counts for common foods that goes beyond the Sodium
Counts for Common Ingredients table on page 243. Knowing your
ingredients will help you make smart substitutions in the recipes you
already love to cook, or those you want to try.
I hope you enjoy the recipes in this book as much as I do, and that
they bring a new variety of meals to your dinner table. Most importantly,
my goal is that once you’ve gotten the hang of how and when
to substitute ingredients and enhance flavor without salt, you’ll be
comfortable adapting recipes from any cookbook or website.
Copyright © 2021 by Lara Ferroni. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
