Best low sodium cookbook?

Hi, everyone,

Just a quick question here. My husband has been ordered to follow a low sodium diet. I've never cooked this way before, and it seems like a daunting task. Could you suggest a cookbook that will help me out as I begin this new way of cooking? I'm not thrilled about this need and would prefer a cookbook that has some delicious recipes as opposed to recipes that simply omit salt and/or other sodium-containing ingredients.

Thank you.

I hope you get better answers but until those show up... I have The DASH diet for hypertension which I was recommended ages ago when I was diagnosed with high bp. But I don't think I've used the recipes as such, for me it served mostly to get the overall idea, which is frankly simply "don't use salt or do so sparingly". The main thing would be to cut out junk food, takeout and restaurant food, all of which tend to be salted at a higher rate than home cooking. And for your own cooking, try eliminating adding salt altogether and decrease amounts where absolutely necessary.

It's a pain when you're cooking for more than one person and I'm not sure what works better--cooking in parallel or cooking everything saltless and allowing salt only to the non-patients.

P.S. A few DASH menu samples:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-dep...

The South Beach Diet cookbook results in some surprisingly edible meals. That said low enough sodium to be meaningful in terms of a palatable home cooked diet is hard to accomplish. Best to avoid processed food and get on BP meds if needed.

No cookbook ideas here, either. So sorry! My grandmother had to cook low sodium for her husband also. She used fresh lemon juice and lots of fresh chopped herbs to add flavor. I don't know if there is sodium content in wine, but marinating meat in wine, herbs and garlic is a great way to add flavor.

Good luck in your search!

I've been on a low sodium diet for years and my blood pressure is right where it should be (it was high). Sorry to say that I don't use a cookbook, I do just omit salt altogether while cooking (except in baking) and let hubby add it to his food before he eats. I have always bought the low sodium broths and soups.

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone.

Squaky Chu- You don't really need a special cookbook. Once you get used to low-salt, no-salt foods, you will start to appreciate the other flavors.
I suggest buying a big jar of garlic -- the granules suspended in Vit. c with no preservatives and use it liberally!
Onions, hot peppers, umami, fat and bunches of other herbs can distract you from the lack of salt. I don't like foods with high salt, such as ham UGH. I'm dehydrated for a few days.
Saltless is an adjustment. And requires home cooking because everything has salt. And sugar. I hope lowsalt-no salt helps your hubby's health.

>7 JanEPat: Thank you. No salt didn’t work. It just made everything flat and tasteless. I went back to my favorite recipes and just started cutting down the salt I add. I label home cooked meals with sodium content and asked my husband to limit his sodium to 500mg per meal (three meals a day) and 500mg per total snacks each day. We do love garlic granules!

>8 SqueakyChu: after awhile on low salt, I can now no longer eat many foods (mostly processed, which is ok!) because they taste so salty. My husband always notes that something is not salty enough. I pass him the salt shaker!