Anybody on a low-sodium diet?

[Sparky2]

I recently ended up in the hospital with some serious and scary symptoms stemming from a high blood pressure condition.

I had been kidding myself this past year, and ignoring a lot of the signs and symptoms.
I had also been paying mere lip-service to my resolve to increase the frequency and duration of my exercise, and my resolve to improve the quality of my diet.

Anyway.
I am on a blood pressure medication now, and am steadily working at improving my diet and exercise regime. I'll probably be back up on flight status in a week or two, hopefully.

I have cut out nearly all the salt, and have cut way down on my consumption of my beloved dark beers.

Re; sodium.
Is anybody else out there on a low sodium diet?
Are there any spices and herbs that you have found that improve the taste of bland, non-salted foods?

I eagerly await your advice and counsel in this matter.

I ate some Low-Sodium Campbells soup earlier this evening.
It was like drinking liquid cardboard.

Help, please.

[Napsterbater]

Salt's like an addiction. Once you're off of it for a few months, you'll wonder how you could have ever gotten hooked on it. Cook with butter instead of oil for a little while until your taste buds adjust. Use a black pepper grinder and experiment with spices you haven't tried before, like paprika or cumin or even cinnamon. For a long time, I wouldn't cook with salt. Now I add a little, but I'm by no means hooked on it. And I come from salt-addicted Cajun country. Add onion and garlic to stuff you never used to. Not the powder, the real deal. Add a little milk into the sauces. Basically, add a bunch of other stuff to the meals to take your mind off not having salt.

Another thing, try using fresh spices instead of the shakers at the grocery store. MSG might help too. It's not nearly as bad as the horror stories make it out to be.

[Sparky2]

Thank you, nappy.

[The Dude]

Oh my...

I hope you get betteer SOON sparky,i didnt know you went thru this!

God bless you my friend!

[Sparky2]

Thank you, Dude.

[Evil Homer]

Like Nappy said, I think it's just easier to cut out sodium than to search for substitutes. It's entirely possible that the substitutes will be just as bad for you, but in different ways.

[rendova]

I haven't used salt in years. Just thought I'd try to eat stuff without it. You can get used to it tho it takes a while.
You could try sprinkling grated parmesan cheese in the soup or on popcorn.

If you don't use it much, now and then you can have a treat--like corn on the cob dripping with real butter and tons of salt.