Elisa, My DH has health problems and we actually have a slightly lower target than your brother's. It seems insurmountable at first, especially when it can't be eased into. If you've got a low-salt diet order, and judging by the ICD implantation, kidney issues, etc., I can guess what you're dealing with, you need to get it in place ASAP. Or your brother will be right back where he started from. The need for rapid change is one of the biggest challenges because it takes awhile for a lowered-salt diet to taste good again. It will get better as you will adjust, but most people eat four or five times that amount, daily. So even thogh 1500 mg/d doesn't sound much less than official ideal for non-impaired people, it's a huge functional and taste change for most people. I know, because we've BTDT. OK, here's some quick tips: almost all prepared food will put you in trouble, unless you only eat once per day. And if he's got diabetes that won't work. By prepared food I mean almost all restaurant food, especially fast food. Almost all canned and frozen prepared stuff, including most stuff marketed as "healthy" prepared food. (There are exceptions, you'll have to read label after label to find the keepers.) Often the lowered sodium product isn't either truly low (300 mg, or less, per portion) or they make it up by loading it with carbs. Here are a couple of good things that are mainstays in our house for fast eats: some of the Imagine Organic aseptic packaged LOWER IN SODIUM soups (corn or sweet potato=140 mg/cup). Other lower in sodium aseptic packaged soups may or may not work for you. (We like some tomato, some roasted pepper, etc. you have to read the labels.) Muir Glen makes a good line of no salt added canned tomato products which are great, esp. the fire roasted ones. Most commercial low or no salt bread sucks, to put it plainly. This is where making your own really is better. But salt has a functional role in bread-making, in addition to its taste role, so you will need to expect to have some trouble adapting "regular" recipes simply by leaving out the salt. Try some of the specifically low-sodium bread recipes for starters. Also if you buy unsliced bread, you can slice it thinner than normal and work the total sodium down that way, at least a bit. No-salt cheese is mostly bad; swiss is naturally low (60-80mg/oz) so it's a my go-to cheese. I do use (sparingly) higher sodium cheeses (e.g. Piave cheddar which can be as high as 500+ mg/oz when all I want is to grate some up as a topping. Then the portion is so small it's OK, and the sharp, rich taste really makes a difference.) You can make good grilled cheese sandwiches with Swiss cheese, too. Use a sharper mustard, for extra taste. For cottage cheese get some no-salt added tubs and cut it 50% with the higher salted product. That produces an acceptable level. Watch frozen veg. products, even some of the un-sauced ones often have baking soda (aka SODIUM bicarbonate) added to preserve the green color, which turns a nearly sodium-free item into something you have to "count". If you need to eat out, go to a restaurant and ask for plain grilled chicken, never seasoned and grilled on a scraped grill. Ask if the veg. were precooked, if so ask that they be rinsed in a hot water and then briefly re-nuked. Most pasta is out because it often has been parboiled in salted water. (You don't need to add salt to pasta if you cook it at home. Never mind what the cook books say.) For nation-wide family restuarant chains when ttraveling, we've had good luck with Ruby Tuesdays. They are usually quite accommodating, and the big salad bar is good, too. There are many, if not most, recipes that you will read in cooking mags and books that will have a sodium content that's way out of your range. But you can always bring that salt way down by not adding it, or adding a lot less. You will have some big recipe failures this way but you will learn what works for you. Your brother's Dr. probably told him this: DO NO USE LITE-SALT or SALT SUBSTITUTES. These usually contain potassium "salts" instead of sodium and they will mess things up on the other end (as well as possibly interfere with some of his meds - ACE/ARBS, diuretics, etc.) These products are meant for people who are just "cutting down" salt, not for people at risk of CHF. It's no picnic dealing with a low-salt, most likely very low-fat, diabetic diet (And maybe also low Vitamin K, as well?). It takes a huge , constant vigilance to put it in place successfully. Your brother will need a lot of help, especially if these are sudden changes, in order for it to not become overwhelming. As JohnLiu says most things that are "too salty" can be made at home. But it's a completely different culinary regimen, because even many certifiably homemade dishes contain ingredients that are very salty to begin with. And it takes a lot more time and effort. Can you give me some idea what you're trying to accomplish, right now? What sorts of meals are you trying to prepare? I may be able to make some specific suggestions. In the meantime, you can't go wrong with broiled chicken or fish, steamed veg, small baked sweet potato and salad for dinner. For lunch a truly lower-salt soup (or big salad), and an egg or tuna or chicken salad sandwich, and fruit for dessert. And maybe regular oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. This would leave you some pretty useful lee-way to add some other tasty, higher-salt add-ons: cheese, lightly salted pop-corn, regular (not homemade low salt for the time being) whole-wheat bread, etc. Possibly some diabetic-OK cookies or icecream; prepared chocolate soy-pudding is a nice snacky-thing, but I'm not sure if it fits with diabetic diets. I remember standing in my supermarket when this was a new thing for me and feeling that nothing I could make would be safe for my husband. I actually cried right in the aisle, I was so upset. We ate pretty simple, even primitive, meals for awhile early on - and I've thrown out a lot of tried-but-turned-out-to-be ghastly recipes. But it does get easier when you learn how to cheat out the excess salt and still go for the familiar flavors. While the prospect of learning a whole new taste-profile can be interesting, in the abstract, familiar tastes and dishes are very comforting and even necessary, IMO for healing. You just need to keep tweaking it until you've got it right. It does get better. L

I'm a vegetarian, but I love vegetables, so I don't know if I would be of much help. Nevertheless, I don't know if this will help, but sometimes a little lemon juice will work as a substitute for salt. It helps to brighten up the taste of things without the sodium. I'm thinking that cheese is pretty high in sodium, at least some cheeses are, like parmesan for instance. As a cheese lover, it's hard to suggest this, but maybe she needs to find something else to eat, or look for low sodium cheeses - if they exist. I don't envy your sister. My father loved all the food that was bad for him, and had a bad heart. He did his best to work with the foods that he was allowed to eat, and even got more interested in cooking, but I know he sorely missed the foods he loved. Of course, when he was sick, I think the restricted diet he was put on may have made him worse, as he was taken off fat other than olive oil, (the good fat) and margarine, which now they know is worse than all other fats. Sally

Here's one, Rita, I think it could be filled with nearly anything from fruit to ice cream. It takes no leavening at all, just those whipped egg whites. I'd leave out that 1/8 tsp of salt, I can't see how it could possibly make a difference. This one doesn't use applesauce in place of fat because it has no fat other than in the eggs. You could also leave out the walnuts and cut the fat even further. I'm thinking it would be good with a cherry filling, like Black Forest Cake. Double-Chocolate Cream Roll From Light & Tasty INGREDIENTS 1-1/2 teaspoons shortening 5 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, divided 3 tablespoons baking cocoa 1/8 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk 2 packages (3.3 ounces each) instant white chocolate pudding mix or 2 packages (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed 3 tablespoons fat-free caramel ice cream topping, divided 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, divided 1 tablespoon fat-free hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed SERVINGS 12 DIRECTIONS Coat a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; line with parchment paper, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in vanilla. Combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar, cocoa and salt; gradually add to egg yolks. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Spread into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert the cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with remaining confectioners' sugar. Gently but quickly peel off parchment paper. Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack. In a small mixing bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Set aside 1 cup. Unroll cake; spread remaining filling evenly over cake to within 1/2 in of edges. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of caramel topping; sprinkle with 6 tablespoons of walnuts. Roll up again. Spread reserved filling over cake roll. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce and remaining caramel topping. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12 servings. NUTRITIONAL INFO Nutritional Analysis: One slice equals 227 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 89 mg cholesterol, 301 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1-1/2 fat. Annie

My Dad has the same problems as your Dad. You should make your own bread. Bread has lots of sodium and you can make it sodium free. Milk has lots of sodium. You can buy soy or other grain milks but they have lots of sodium also. But, you can make rice milk real easy and not add salt and either drink or use it in your receipes and it is sodium free. If a salad dressing calls for oil, use water and thicken with cornstarch or arrowroot. I use Fetherweight Baking powder (no sodium), EnerG egg replacer (0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 5 mg. sodium), EnerG baking soda (no sodium). I create my own receipes for my Dad. I gave him a low sodium cookbook (uses less than 500 mg. sodium in a days meals). I cannot remember the name of it. E-mail me and I will let you know.