THE DAILY DISH

ABOUT THE SITE

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably someone like me: a very hungry person looking for ANYTHING that can save you from your dreary low-sodium existence. It’s hard enough learning to live with a chronic illness. But to a food lover, the prospect of life without flavor is enough to make you long for the grave. When I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease and told I’d have to adhere to a strict low-sodium diet, I thought… that’s it? That’s all I have to do? Piece of cake. I already loved to cook and figured, okay, I’ll just forego the salt and it’ll be fine. Things will taste great. What I failed to realize is there is sodium in almost everything. Things that don’t taste even remotely salty have sodium, and sometimes large quantities of it. And all of that adds up quickly. I soon recognized that my journey to health was going to be a very difficult, often depressing struggle.

Faced with limited low-sodium prospects, I began to dread mealtime. What was I going to eat? Would it taste like cardboard? And everything was so inconvenient, taking time and concerted effort to make. I found myself losing weight and becoming disinterested in food. Worse, I started feeling resentful towards people who could eat normally - even my own family. I ached for the salty, greasy, mouth-wateringly delicious food everyone else seemed to be eating with abandon.

Fed up with feeling helpless and deprived, I decided to take charge. I couldn't control my Meniere's symptoms, but the low-sodium diet was working wonders. With hard work, I could change my own life for the better, and and in the process I'd be helping others. This cookbook is my work-in-progress toward the goal of maintaining health joyfully. With each new recipe, I feel a renewed sense of satisfaction - and in some sense, freedom - from the prison I'd known before. I'd never have believed how much a change in diet can alter a person's life, but mine is a case in point. What initially seemed a sentence is now a welcome challenge, and Meniere's has provided me with an excuse to devote myself to cooking. I've never been happier.

The recipes on this website are intended to meet the requirements of a low-sodium diet only (under 1500 mg per day) and may not meet other dietary restrictions. Individuals with special health needs, such as those on low-fat, low-cholesterol, diabetic or restricted-calorie diets, should exercise caution when proceeding with any recipe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christin Ellingsworth, MA, is a former research analyst, fulltime mother of two and passionate foodie. She resides in Philadelphia with her family and an ever-growing menagerie of pets.