Eat low sodium foods for a healthier life!

A big hello to all!

What you put in your body contributes to who you are significantly. Your physical condition affects almost everything in your life. We all know that, but do we truly understand it, live it? Well, I haven't until I got diagnosed with Meniere's disease three years ago.

For those who have not heard about the disease; imagine this! Drink alcohol until you get very dizzy, then imagine you stay dizzy for 24 hours and dizziness does not go away even if you put your head on a pillow. Of course this much dizziness causes you to vomit, which kills your appetite for some time, which leads you to lose weight. Then imagine that this dizziness comes back to you intermittently now and then, whenever it feels like, whether you drink alcohol or not!!

Well Meniere's has nothing to do with drinking alcohol. It is just this inner ear problem that shows its pretty face with the symptoms I mentioned above. It causes vertigo (strong dizziness) which prevents you from doing almost anything fundamental in your daily life.

After unsuccessful attempts with several ENT doctors, finally a doctor (Dr. Adrian Eshraghi, God or mother nature, whichever you believe bless his soul!) at University of Miami diagnosed me with Meniere's and gave me the good news that "we do not know the root cause of this problem, you have to be careful about your sodium intake and stress level". I remember saying "I don't add salt in my food anyways. As for the stress level, I have to stop seeing my girl friend!". He smiles and said "Girlfriend is your business but definitely check the nutrition charts of everything you eat. Check for sodium levels. Make sure you get less than 2000mg per day".

I followed his advice. I was feeling so bad that I did not have a choice. My sister took care of me and my diet at the beginning. I am a much healthier man today. Partially I owe that to following a low sodium diet. I know that eating foods in low sodium is what I will do for the rest of my life because high levels of salt intake affects not only affects Meniere's but also causes problems related to illnesses in heart and blood vessels.

I already have a website called http://www.eatlowsodium.com/ where I market food with only low sodium content (200mg per servings or less). I sometimes post useful information (low sodium diet tips, books, recipes,etc. ) there. I will use this blog to inform my readers about low sodium diet, foods, cooking techniques, diseases where sodium intake matters also answer your questions regarding the subject in a more informal, person-to-person manner. So feel free to post a comment to the articles on my blog or email me at UmitDemir @ eatlowsodium. com (remove the spaces)

If I can be of any help for you to have a healthier life, I would be happy.

Salute to all!

Umit Demir