The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cookbook simplifies meals with low sodium
Christopher Lower had overcome the daunting prospect of flavorless meals since a fluke illness had resulted in heart damage in 2002. His diagnosis was congestive heart failure, with a prognosis of five years to live.
“That wasn’t acceptable,” said Lower, who was then 34. “I had a child on the way. I had just started a business. I didn’t want to be gone in five years.”
He made all the right choices: was tested for sleep apnea, went low-sodium to protect against hypertension and lost 115 pounds, the latter with a diet based mostly on Mediterranean eating habits and plenty of exercise.
“But I always hated diets,” he said. “With a low-sodium diet, it had to be a lifestyle decision that I could live with every day for the rest of my life. I had to figure out how to make food that still tasted great.”
The medical world was not much help. Lower received a brochure that didn’t say much more than to “avoid this” or “avoid that.”
A casual conversation with a hospital roommate would lead him along a new path as he gathered dietary insight to pass along to others. His platform was a blog, hackingsalt.com, where he offers recipes, tips and reviews for managing a diet few willingly choose.
Readers took note, and so did a publisher. Rockridge Press contacted him and said it had been testing his recipes. “You are the No. 1 blogger on low salt,” he was told.
Better yet, they wanted him to write a book.
“The Easy Low-Sodium Diet Plan & Cookbook” (Rockridge Press, 220 pages, $15.99) offers the experience of 15 years of making low-sodium meals acceptable to his family and him. The book includes 100 recipes with commentary, and offers a subtitle that spells out his approach: “QuickFix & Slow Cooker Meals to Start (& Stick to) a LowSalt Diet.”
His voice is strong and encouraging as he offers advice on low-sodium (and even no-sodium) menus that assure flavorful meals.
“We have a lot of cooking from scratch at home,” he said. “We’re not short-order cooks at home, so mealtime has to be approved by our 8-year-old twins, a 15-year-old and my wife. They have to pass the taste test at home, with layers of flavor.”