Low-Sodium diets for those with Meniere"s Disease
Doctors often recommend low-sodium diets to patients with Meniere's disease. That is what happened to me when I was first diagnosed with the disease. I was very diligent in consuming less than 1500 milligrams of sodium per day as my doctor suggested. The more I studied the benefits of a low-sodium diet, the more I was sold on its value.
The basic idea behind the low-sodium diet is that reducing sodium reduces the volume of endolymphatic fluid in the ear. This reduces endolymphatic hydrops and the symptoms associated with it. The low-sodium diet does seem to help some Meniere's disease sufferers.
High sodium intake leads to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major cause of stroke and heart disease. Since the 1970s, sodium consumption has increased greatly. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the average sodium intake for Americans is over 3400 milligrams per day which is high.
Lowering sodium intake is important even for those who do not have high blood pressure. The lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk for stroke and heart disease. That is the fact that really wins me over. We should all commit to consuming lower amounts of sodium.
The 2010 Dietary guidelines for Americans recommends that we limit our daily sodium intake to 1500 mg sodium per day. This is a decrease from 2300 mg per day in the 2005 guidelines.
Adhering to a low-sodium diet is probably the first thing your doctor will suggest you do. Some Meniere's patients have found the change effective and studies have proven that these diets help, so it is certainly worth a try. A low-sodium diet is one of the most challenging diets because most foods have sodium in them and almost all processed foods have high amounts of sodium. The easiest way to master the low-sodium diet is to slowly ramp down to the intake level your doctor has targeted for you. This may not be the way your doctor would like you to do it, but if you remove all salty items from your diet immediately and replace those items with their low-sodium equivalents, you will find that everything has suddenly lost its savor. I know because that is what I did. After a few weeks, your taste buds acclimate to the lower sodium level and the flavor comes back to foods in a new way. At that point, when you taste foods with regular sodium content, they taste too salty.
It will take time to unlearn your salt preferences. Research shows that reductions in salt content at 10 percent a year are not noticeable to one's taste buds. Going from a high sodium diet to below 1500 milligrams a day overnight can be very discouraging.
The majority of sodium that typical Americans eat comes from restaurants and processed foods. If you eat out, avoid typical high sodium foods and do not add any additional salt from the saltshaker. Ask that the saltshaker be removed from your table. Ask for salad dressings and sauces on the side so you control how much you consume.
Study food labels to learn about the sodium content of the products you consume. If you judge sodium content based on taste alone, you will still be taking high amounts of sodium into your body. The most obvious high-salt foods to avoid include bacon and other cured meat products, canned soup, salted nuts, potato chips, lunch meats, etc.
Good Luck in your quest to lower your sodium intake and good luck conquering Meniere's disease.
The basic idea behind the low-sodium diet is that reducing sodium reduces the volume of endolymphatic fluid in the ear. This reduces endolymphatic hydrops and the symptoms associated with it. The low-sodium diet does seem to help some Meniere's disease sufferers.
High sodium intake leads to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major cause of stroke and heart disease. Since the 1970s, sodium consumption has increased greatly. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the average sodium intake for Americans is over 3400 milligrams per day which is high.
Lowering sodium intake is important even for those who do not have high blood pressure. The lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk for stroke and heart disease. That is the fact that really wins me over. We should all commit to consuming lower amounts of sodium.
The 2010 Dietary guidelines for Americans recommends that we limit our daily sodium intake to 1500 mg sodium per day. This is a decrease from 2300 mg per day in the 2005 guidelines.
Adhering to a low-sodium diet is probably the first thing your doctor will suggest you do. Some Meniere's patients have found the change effective and studies have proven that these diets help, so it is certainly worth a try. A low-sodium diet is one of the most challenging diets because most foods have sodium in them and almost all processed foods have high amounts of sodium. The easiest way to master the low-sodium diet is to slowly ramp down to the intake level your doctor has targeted for you. This may not be the way your doctor would like you to do it, but if you remove all salty items from your diet immediately and replace those items with their low-sodium equivalents, you will find that everything has suddenly lost its savor. I know because that is what I did. After a few weeks, your taste buds acclimate to the lower sodium level and the flavor comes back to foods in a new way. At that point, when you taste foods with regular sodium content, they taste too salty.
It will take time to unlearn your salt preferences. Research shows that reductions in salt content at 10 percent a year are not noticeable to one's taste buds. Going from a high sodium diet to below 1500 milligrams a day overnight can be very discouraging.
The majority of sodium that typical Americans eat comes from restaurants and processed foods. If you eat out, avoid typical high sodium foods and do not add any additional salt from the saltshaker. Ask that the saltshaker be removed from your table. Ask for salad dressings and sauces on the side so you control how much you consume.
Study food labels to learn about the sodium content of the products you consume. If you judge sodium content based on taste alone, you will still be taking high amounts of sodium into your body. The most obvious high-salt foods to avoid include bacon and other cured meat products, canned soup, salted nuts, potato chips, lunch meats, etc.
Good Luck in your quest to lower your sodium intake and good luck conquering Meniere's disease.
