Hi, since I'm a picky eater, I won't be much help regarding foods. When I need something to munch on I eat Ritz crackers with a touch of salt. They are very low in sodium, I think it's 5mg per cracker. I would suggest that you keep a log of your sodium intake. I did that for a time and it helped my avoid the high salt snacks. Keeping my sodium intake under 1,500mg a day and avoiding caffeine along with Dyaside keeps my vertigo under control. Best wishes, Nancy

Hi,
I remember the days of blah fruit and salad. There are so many things to eat! For salads, rinse canned beans and add them, add home cooked leftover meat. Salad dressings are super simple. Just look up a recipe for your favorite kind and leave out the salt. Keep it in a small jar in the fridge and just shake. All the "touch of salt" items in the store are usually lower in sodium than the "reduced sodium". You can get no salt peanut butter (I use Trader Joe's) no salt chili beans... Look for meats without anything added. I usually make extra that I can use in sandwiches when my husband has deli meats.

One thing I do not do anymore... and that is save up my sodium for supper with my family. That much sodium all at once aggravated my MD. Then I was no good for the rest of the night. I didn't sleep well. And that started the next morning the wrong way.

I would suggest maybe taking an hour or two on a weekend or day home and baking (bread, cookies...) or cooking (dry beans...) so you have something in the freezer you can just pull out when you need it.

Get yourself something to binge on that you can keep in your purse. I had a ziploc filled with dry fruit and nut mix (0 sodium) from Costco. So, find something you do like, and always have it with you.

I hope you can find some joy in your food again and keep your goal of low sodium. Hope this helps.

I do the same as Rachel and prepare my lunches for the week every weekend. And I also cook some things to have on hand during the week. Depending on what you can tolerate.....here are some suggestions :)

I am able to eat no-salt tomato sauce (some can't because it triggers migraines or migraine associated vertigo), but if you can pasta dishes are a good choice w/veggies and a low salt meat for protein or beans as mentioned. I do use the tomato sauce sparingly just in case. Also, swiss cheese is low salt so you can add that too if you can do dairy. Or Ritz hint of salt crackers w/cheese as a pretty quick snack.
Baked potatoes and sour cream are low salt and there is even a brand of potato chips that is low salt - Mike Sell's - no salt. It has a very low amount of salt.
There are 2 brands of salad dressing that I found in Ohio -
Maple Grove Farms of Vermont - Balsamic Vinaigrette 45mg of sodium for 2tbsp or
Annie's Naturals- Balsamic Vinaigrette - 55mg of sodium for 2tbsp
There are also a couple flavors of Nature Valley granola bars that are low in sodium (~65mg)

Hope this helps. I do spend a lot of time preparing food and reading labels, but it keeps me healthy and keeps the symptoms manageable. Best of luck to you.

I don't cook very often and there are almost no fast foods or prepackaged foods that you can get that are low sodium, though they do exist. I found I can eat the chicken and rice at Chipotle without any problem but can't eat anything at Burger King or Boston Market without feeling it.
I started a special diet on Nov. 2 that is 2 protein shakes or a shake and a meal bar every day and then just 1 low calorie meal every day. Because of the Meniere's I find exercise very difficult. I made sure that this diet was low in sodium and that it has lots of healthy ingredients. I have lost 23 points since I started and I have gone 2 months now without a real spinning attack. I'm not cured. I've had split second spins. I've felt like an attack was about to start, but then it went away. I'm happy with this diet. If you want more info, let me know.

Hello Achaille24,
It does not sound like you are quite ready to commit to a low sodium diet "yet." Life is long, and a low-sodium diet is a permanent change; one must accept that fact, and understand Meniere's is a progression of damage, PERMANENT damage to the inner ear(s), and a high sodium diet is a smoking gun. In 5, 10, or 50 years (hard to say if and when the disease claims more of your hearing, and life in general), and you will regret not having done everything you could have from the start.
After years of eating low-sodium, I've learned much about 'mainstream,' flavor enhanced , high additive, ultra-high sodium CRAP foods we are coerced into believing are good tasting and/or good for us. High sodium and additive enhanced food masks the real flavor of each individual base ingredient, and what some call bland, is actually what the actual food tastes like.; After learning to appreciate un-enhanced flavors, it becomes apparent that the McFoods we crave are more an addiction than hunger.
When I accidentally get hold of toxic foodstuffs now, my body has learned that these are in reality quite bad for humans in more ways than one, and foods that seemed so hard to abandon, now taste terrible, burn my mouth, and upset my stomach. My palate has finally recovered from being burned-out by salt and additives, and subtle flavors have blossomed into delicious cuisine.
There is a big social aspect to food, and it is not easy (at first) to sit idly by and watch friends and family scarf down 'garbage' while you face an order of toast at the restaurant, or a potato and noodles with steamed veggies and baked chicken instead of store-bought pizza, Kentucky fried chicken, or most anything out of a box. But in the end, it will be YOU who is partaking in the tastiest meal, and not just some chemically engineered meal that scientists have concocted in the laboratory to sucker the general public into believing it is flavorful and nutritious.
It rubs off too. My wife turned up her nose at my special diet for the longest time, but after staring over my shoulder at all the good food I eat, she has slowly adapted many of the entrees I now love. Some of the benefits we have both realized include an absence of heartburn and stomach upset, clockwork regularity, easily managed weight without' dieting,' and lowered blood pressure and cholesterol; we both eat all we want, and don't fear the scale.
Here is a 10,000 foot rundown of what I've done to (happily) change to a 1500mg~2000mg sodium intake: NO restaurant or fast food. Natural alternative spices - there is life after salt. Scratch prepared entree's. Alternative snacks such as dried fruits, dried veggies, rice cakes, the occasional jelly bean (yea, I know), and nothing with over 2 lines of ingredients on the back of the package, especially if the list contains chemical type names. there are lots of "No Added Sodium" canned and bottled foods but you have to look; they are usually hidden behind the popular goodies. Check the Gluten Free section too - lots of alternatives hiding there too!
Even if my Meniere's were suddenly cured, I would never go back to a destructive diet; I feel so much better and honestly cannot tolerate mainstream foods any more. Another thing that has helped immensely was quitting alcohol - just a suggestion.
Cheers,
Warren

hi! yes a low salt diet is the pits! i always have hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator and some boiled chicken flavored with herbs to nibble on. i always wash canned vegetables and canned tuna in water etc. i also have low fat swiss cheese around which does not contain lots of salt. for me the most difficult things iare bread and crackers. i always read sodium content and buy the lowest possible. i do not drink alcohol and drink decaffeinated coffee but each day reward myself with a piece of chocolate! if i have to go to dinner and imbibe in salt i up my diarrhetic the next morning. this seems to help. the other thing that has saves me is if i feel an attack coming on i take prednisone, 5 mg. for 3-4 days once a day. good luck and remember at least we can eat sugar!!!

Bravo Warren. Well-said. My husband and I have also noticed the wonderful side effects of eating low sodium. We have also come to the realization that eating out does not! leave us feeling well afterwards, even if we do go for the healthier choices.

Achaille24, Take the time to look up the nutrition values of foods from the restaurants you frequent. You can do so online before you go and make a list of what you possibly could eat that is low sodium. You might be surprised to find out how much sodium permeates most items at some restaurants and fast food places.

I agree 100% Warren. It is a lifestyle change & I feel better and I'm healthier for it. The only positive out of all of this :)

One thing I wanted to add is that I don't eat restaurant food much at all; however, I have found them to be quite accommodating. I politely tell the restaurant that I have a salt restriction due to a health condition and ask them to grill a piece of lean meat with NOTHING on it/no seasoning/no sauce, get an unsalted baked potatoe w/sour cream (& usually don't eat the skin just in case) and salad w/oil & vinegar on the side. That way I can hang with my friends or whatever and not be sick the next day! It can be done! :)

And word of caution.....be careful looking up the nutritional values online.....they don't always include all of the sauces that they might add to that menu item and they of course aren't back there measuring sauces and spices out to get the exact mg of sodium that we require!

This diet takes time, effort and committment.......but it's worth it!

To those that mentioned bread - YES! I did not realize how much salt is in bread until I started tracking my sodium intake. So sad because I love buying local bread. Alvarado Street Bakery and the company that makes Ezekial bread both have low/no sodium breads. At first I really noticed the difference in taste, but now I hardly miss the salt. :)

I'm not sure the way I do it would be of much help to you, because I just make everything from scratch and don't add salt. I usually try to make it al at once and freeze a lot, since I don't have time everyday to be making all this stuff. My favourite is pizza, I make a crust with no salt, process and season (with herbs only) some stewed tomatoes or buy low-sodium tomato sauce, mozza and then pineapple, green pepper or onions for toppings. Sometimes I put a small amount of ham or pepperoni, but just a little since it's so high sodium. The pizza freezes quite well, so if you have one day a week to prep meals you could make it and freeze it. I do eat a lot of salads and fruit, as well. Also, I make fries from potatoes with no salt, and either use honey/mayo/dill as a dip, or make poutine from Epicure gravy mix which is fairly low sodium. (Is Epicure an international thing? It's one of those direct sale things like Avon, but seasonings and they are mostly all low sodium. So awesome). For stuff like chicken stock I just simmer the bones in water, then freeze in cubes using a muffin tin, so I can grab a frozen cube of it to use when I need it, no salt added like the high-sodium grocery store stock. I make all my sauces and salad dressings as well. Since they have no preservatives, I use the muffin tin to freeze cubes of them for future use, too.

Keeping my sodium low has definitely helped me. At Christmas I was very bad with eating too much sodium and had 2 really awful attacks, so I'm convinced it helps. Good luck!

Also just wanted to add that completely cutting out alcohol and caffeine has been beneficial for me, too. I do keep some non-alcoholic beers in the fridge in case I am tempted (usually when I make the pizza I want a beer with it.) And I only drink de-caf coffee (and not very often, since even the de-caf seems to cause me issues sometimes, can't figure out why). I usually just stick to herbals teas that are naturally decaffeinated. I really like making a mixture from loose peppermint and ginger, tastes wonderful and helps with nausea when I am dizzy. (just don't drink too much ginger tea, too much can have a bad effect as I found out the hard way. A little is very helpful, though). Also, I find drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea seems to be beneficial during my "lady time" as it helps to balance hormones and I seem to have less issues then than I used to.

Thank you for all if the suggestions! It for sure is a life style change that cannot be adapted to overnight. My biggest challenge seems to be overcoming the addiction to foods (particularly sugary items for me!). I have always been a Coke drinker in the morning since I am not fond of coffee. Do any of you have other go to drinks in the morning since caffeine is discouraged for Mnire's patients?

Hi, I'm new to the group and am in the process of going to a vestibular clinic in Cleveland for the next step. I have quit adding salt to anything and am finding I can manage. I've discovered fresh meat is really low in sodium and am trying to move in that direction. (Story: I went to BJ's to get some dog food and love their broasted chicken. When I checked the label it have 480 mg of sodium, so I checked the Perdue non-caged chicken and found it only had 65 mg of sodium.) Moral of the story is that if you teach ourself, you can eat a variety of food. I'm not an expert, but I'm learning. Thanks for being here on this group. I believe we need each other.

There have been many responses to the low sodium diet, so forgive me if someone also suggested the book "500 Low Sodium Recipes" by Dick Logue. You'll find some are a hit and some are a flop. We've taken some of the flops and added our own spices. You can also visit lowsodiumcooking.com. You can get the book at Amazon. Hope this helps.

Great suggestions everyone!

I have to agree with Warren. lifestyle change is necessary. My change was not too difficult because I love fruits and vegies. Bread was the biggest change. My sodium is limited to 1500 mg per day and I make sure the sodium is the same in most of the meals so there is no fluctuation. I shop around the outside of the store. Be careful with yogurt, even that can have sodium. I found one with 0 sodium, so it's possible to find those products. Watch the labels. Making my lunches/snacks ahead of time really helps. I keep a homemade snack mix on hand with no salt added pretzels (40mg for 17), raisins and sunflower seeds or maybe I'll add no salt nuts. I love stir fry, with little oil, quick to make and you can use chicken, beef, seafood and whatever vegies you have on hand. That on a bed of brown rice and I have a quick, easy meal. I stay away from restaurants but, if I go out, I usually ask for something like salmon without sodium added and take a couple of sides of vegies without sodium. Restaurants have been accommodating.

Good luck with your low sodium diet.