The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook

by Donald A. Gazzaniga, Michael B. Fowler (Introduction)

Donald Gazzaniga, diagnosed with congestive heart failure, was headed for a heart transplant - the only effective medical treatment. Urged by his doctor to keep his sodium intake "under 1,500-2000 mg. a day," Don headed for the kitchen and went to work. Aware that cutting out table salt is the barest beginning of a true low-sodium diet, Don devised recipes for delicious low-sodium dishes that added up to less than 500 mg. daily, 70% lower than those in other low-sodium cookbooks. The result? Don's name has been removed from the transplant list and his doctors believe that his diet played a significant role.

The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook contains:

* Hundreds of good tasting, easy-to-make recipes
* An introduction by Dr. Sandra Barbour of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation
* Advice on finding low-sodium prepared foods, eating in restaurants, etc.
* Accurate sodium content of every ingredient and of the total servings
* A twenty-eight-day low-sodium menu planner by Dr. Jeannie Gazzaniga, Ph.D., R.D.

This book is for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to consult a physician before making any major change in diet.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Health, Nonfiction, Food

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Donald Gazzaniga spent a full career in the motion picture and television industry as well as a bunch of years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He had traveled the world with camera in hand, created and produced hundreds of TV commercials and worked on scores of sitcoms and other shows. He was also the only photographer to have ever been allowed on top of Mt. Rushmore since its opening. Don's career of writing led him into novels like A Few Good Men, Air France One, Batteries Not Included, War Hawks and cookbooks.
Don was also known as the "Low Sodium Guru." He was pegged with that moniker by Better Homes & Garden's publication for heart healthy Magazine. The reasons were simple. Don was the first known to have reversed CHF by cutting salt out of his life completely. No salt in anything. He has crafted five no salt, low sodium cookbooks. It was his effort at avoiding a heart transplant and proving that salt did indeed have something to do with promoting heart disease, Meniere's Syndrome, stomach cancer, Nephrotic Syndrome and other ailments including hypertension. Through his effort he has helped saved thousands of lives as well as helping hundreds to avoid a heart transplant. In Living Well Without Salt, Don walks the reader through the steps he took to regain his heart and to live on with a normal life. Now with 200 recipes and chock full of foods you can eat, his book has become a best seller among those who need to lower the sodium in their diets.

Reviews

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 37 year old husband has had a rough year. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and then had a very damaging heart attack. Like the author of this book, he was told he may need a heart transplant. Of course he/we have been eating better and trying to find the most flavor bang for our buck AND sodium count. We love to eat out and try all kinds of foods and we wanted to keep that as a part of our life. I have loved this book because it reads like more than a cook book. I enjoyed sitting down and reading it, I looked forward to going back to it despite the fact that I was so bummed about NEEDING it in my life when I picked it up. I cannot say that about many of the chronic disease diet books I have been browsing!

In addition to the recipes, the book gives a great primer on low-sodium eating, where sodium is found, what it is used for, and how to live low-sodium all the time. The author goes to great lengths in his own life to be at around 500mg of sodium a day, super low, and it is inspiring to read his commentary. I also like the board of people he used to help write the book. Even better, my husband and I have enjoyed all of the recipes we have tried so far. I like how the recipes are not bland and all areas of dinning are covered (comfort food, holidays, potlucks, light snacks, dressings, salads, sweets). The nutrition information on each dish is included, which is helpful for other areas of diet that we are monitoring.

The book has me excited because it is helping me adapt my cooking and shopping to what I was hoping: that being low-sodium does not mean flavorless and boring.

[Kathy Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book of low-sodium recipes. I bought several different low sodium cookbooks this year, and this one is the best. Most important, the recipes are tasty and easy. It includes recipes for condiments which when purchased over the counter are stunningly high in sodium and that includes some spices.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read when my husband was told to lower his sodium due to heart failure. It truly gave us hope. The author was on the transplant list and after drastically reducing his sodium intake turned it all around. Truly inspirational. We all owe this man a great debt. The recipes are great too, with lots of variety. He truly knows what he is talking about and has thrown himself fully into experimenting with possibilities. Read this before any other lo-sodium cookbooks.

[Robert Callow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandy read a book of his. Any book, then YOU rate it😯

[Neela]

See also the author's site: www.megaheart.com

[Kafi D'Ambrosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book allowed our family to step out of what we thought was healthy, eating popular frozen diet prepared meals, return to reading labels and shopping the outside the supermarket.

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful information for us, since my husband's doctor told him that he needed to restrict sodium.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great recipes and helpful ideas for anyone to live a healthier life and especially someone who's loved one is living with heart failure. It helps bring easy and delicious recipes to every household.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good recipes in here

[Alex Linschoten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.