Bulldinkie, my prayers are going out for you and your husband. My husband had his first heart attack, that we knew of, in 1987 when he was 38. He was extremely athletic, got a lot of the right things for exercise, not overweight, never smoked, didn't drink, minimal fast food, low cholesteral, but blood pressure a little high and did everything they tell you to do to avoid heart attacks. He wound up having 5 by pass surgery but never really got back to normal. At that time we did start to follow a healthy heart diet. About 2004, he had another heart attack while we were laying the foundation for our house. Got him to the hospital and it lasted for three days. We never imagined a heart attack could last that long without killing you. The team of doctors from IU said there was nothing they could do for him and wouldn't put him on the transplant list, but his cardiologist at the VA wouldn't give up and did manage to get him on the heart transplant list. A year and a half later, he got his transplant. My DH changed his diet himself. He became a vegetarian while waiting for the transplant. We think it was the only way he made it while waiting. He cut out salt himself and now if anything has the salt in it, he can taste it and doesn't like it. He's eight years out from his transplant and everyone is surprised he made it past the first seven as a lot don't. He doesn't eat many sweets, his diet is extremely low in fat, but I do use olive oil occasionally and his salt intake is primarily what is natural in food, not what is added. He does eat salt on his eggs and potatoes, but a minimal amount. He's healthy and happy. His doctors think he's a miracle for many reasons. Don't give up and don't let him give up. You'll both benefit from the salt free diet and you'll not even miss it.

I would, in a blender, mix 1/2 cup fat free yogurt( plain!) with 2 T olive oil and 1/2 tsp Coleman's dry mustard, and "some" lemon juice. Start with a tablespoon full. Then add dill to taste. Ought to taste a lot like a mayo based dressing...but it's pretty healthy...no cholesterol in the olive oil, low salt and the mustard and lemon juice are the predominate tastes in mayo. I use that and add garlic, worchestershire and some crumbled blue....which negates all the heart healthy stuff that went before!! LOL! Linda C

There are several sources online with loads of information & recipes. Also, there are several online shopping sources for low sodium foods. I've been cooking super low sodium for the last four years, ever since my husband was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. A low sodium diet is really challenging but it's also an adventure, seeing just how creative you can be in delivering tasty, low salt meals. I've also been writing a blog about my low sodium cooking adventures. If you follow the link below, you will find a list on the right hand side of the page with links to three really informative sites. I especially recommend "Low Sodium Cooking" and "Megaheart." Both sites offer lots of information, tips, sources, and recipes. Also you can sign up for the monthly newsletters that include even more recipes & info. And the authors of both those sites have written low salt cookbooks that are available for purchase either from their websites or Amazon. In addition, I've got another list of places where you can purchase low salt products online. Again, I heartily recommend Healthy Heart Market, Heartwise, and Saltwatcher. I've ordered many, many products from these three vendors and have found some great products. You specifically mentioned bread. Making low sodium yeast bread is easy. Just remember that salt moderates the yeast activity, keeps it in check. So, if you lessen the quantity of salt in a recipe, you should equally lessen the amount of yeast. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 tsp salt and 2-1/2 tsp yeast, you could decrease the salt by one teaspoon and also decrease the yeast by one teaspoon. Because the salt amount is lowered, you want to carefully watch your dough during rising so that it doesn't over-proof. You have to be careful about using yeast bread recipes with no salt whatsoever. I've seen, even on some low salt websites, recipes with the exact same amount of yeast as regular salted doughs. If you want to read further about the effects of salt in yeast dough baking, please refer to the blog entry listed below. I reference two interesting discussion from "Cooking for Engineers" and the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day." I know I've rattled on, but this is a subject that I'm pretty passionate about. Good luck. And, if I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me either through this forum or my blog. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Please DON'T Pass the Salt!

Hi to my Smaller Homes friends! I appreciate your support and care more than you can know. I have been working toward a weight loss diet since the first of the year. I need to lose almost 200 lbs. In the past I have done liquid protein diets, both without and with other foods. This time, I am going to use the liquid protein to replace some meals and to use between my smaller meals. I figure that doing weight loss this way is a more sustainable way, and that I will likely need to use the liquid protein for some meals the rest of my life. Falling into the fast-food/drive-through habit is too easy for me, since I am on the road for my job. If I can leave the house with a liquid protein packet making a nice cappucino-like drink in home-brewed coffee, I won't be stopping for breakfast with bacon and white-flour breading. That saves a few hundred calories right there! I am trying to leave some snacking (a few individual Dove chocolates at night, a handful of pretzels, some air-popped popcorn) in my diet so that I learn to eat the way I always revert to - but with moderation, instead. DH is the sodium-sleuth, and since he does most of the shopping, I can eat low sodium if I do not sabotage his efforts! We still get take-out, but mostly Middle Eastern, and I get salads with some meat most of the time. So that is my plan - to establish better habits overall, use liquid protein drinks to keep my nutrition up, and eat fewer calories while avoiding sodium and white carbs. I started PT this week. We started with my ankles because that is where the worst pain is. Stan, my PT Man (a genius!) first studied my walk and added to my orthotics (he made them) to correct my left foot's roll. I am doing strengthening exercises, too. Next is my elbows, then my hand. Once I am done with the PT, I plan to get into that nice warm pool at the community center of a nearby suburb a few days a week to work out in the water. I am walking almost as fast as I used to walk as I cruise through my nursing homes, but get out of breath. No major heart pains since the one I had in my first week back at work. I am working to recognize my patterns of tension, worry, and stress. I drive around doing deep, slow breathing exercises and relaxing my shoulders! My biggest, best, and most time consuming change has been working my sauna into my schedule. I have done 30 to 60 minute sessions before bed, a 40 minute session as soon as I got home for work, and even a short 15 minute session before showering to go to work. It feels SO GOOD! I wake up without stiffness if I use it at night. As a matter of fact, it is warmed up for me now, and I am going to go indulge in a full hour in the baking, far-infrared 130 degree little cabin in our smallest bedroom right now!