Need recommendations for Low Chol/Low Fat/Low Sodium Cookbook

[mcgee]

DH and I both have to reduce our sodium intake and he has to lower his cholesterol too. I need a good cookbook recommendation that tackles both. The American Heart Association has one as does Betty Crocker - just thought I'd check in with you guys to see what your suggestions/reviews are. Last night I made Stop and Smell the Rosemary's Tortilla Soup and while it's one of our faves, it was really bland made with low sodium chicken broth. TIA

[Minky]

Mcgee,

When DH had his health crisis last summer, I had every low-sodium/chol/fat cookbook home that the library had to offer. I ended up buying Eating Well for a Healthy Heart, and Eating Well's Essential cookbook. Both have lots of very good recipes for all times of the day. I am also considering Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave after having that one from the library over the holidays.

It may take some time to adjust your palate to less salt. I have been using more fresh and dried herbs to perk dishes up a bit. I'm even to the point where I cringe when I watch the FoodTV chefs throwing handfuls of salt into everything

That said, good for you on tackling the cholesterol problem early in the game

[mcgee]

Thanks Minky - I checked my library and they have the Ellie Krieger book but not the Eating Well ones so guess I'll start by perusing Ellie's book first. We were really surprised by my husband's high-cholesterol diagnosis because we eat very little meat/poultry and live mostly on beans and tofu. The cookbooks I use the most are The Healthy Hedonist, Moosewood Cooks at Home, and The Vegetarian Gourmet's Low Fat Favorites. His one weakness is cheese which he does eat a lot of, although he's not overweight. I am just flummoxed with the diagnosis but will do what I can to bring it under control. We have four months before they retest him. Thanks for your response.

[chipotle]

Mcgee, I was amazed when I first learned how much cholesterol (and sodium!) some cheese has. Check out a guy named Donald Gazzaniga. He's written a series of low-sodium cookbooks (including a bread book and a low-fat book) and has a web site at http://www.megaheart.com that includes low-sodium recipes.

There is also an online store called Healthy Heart Market that sells all low-sodium items. Also, look up the government's DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) as they have some ideas to reduce sodium.

One of my favorite books is the Eating Well Diabetes Cookbook. I'm not diabetic but it has great recipes that are low fat and low sodium and includes lots of good vegetarian choices.

I still struggle with being low-sodium and I've found it most helpful to keep a log of what I've eaten on Sparkpeople. Some days I do great and stay at around 500 mg for the day and other days it isn't so good and it is helpful to know where I went wrong.

I use a lot of raw garlic and garlic powder, fresh herbs, and citrus juice to jazz things up. I make my own zero-sodium broths and salad dressing and breads. And I read labels religiously - ever since I found some Dole pink grapefruit juice that had added sodium, I know I have to check every single thing. sigh I've also noticed items I normally buy can suddenly change and increase in sodium over time.

For beans I buy either Whole Foods no-salt-added brand or Eden organic no-salt-added brand. I buy TJs no-salt added canned tomatoes and no-salt added peanut butter. Their organic flour tortillas have the lowest salt of any I've found. Ezekiel makes a very low-sodium bread but DH has refused to eat it.