Heart healthy diet

I imagine how difficult it would be for a patient to suddenly switch their diet of comfort to a low-sodium heart healthy alternative. I’ve only experienced a patient’s reaction to this new diet once in clinical, and the first sentence expressed when looking at the cardiac tray was “That’s not real food, that’s cardboard”. I can’t help but think I would react similarly, as according to my daily assessment of sodium intake, a reduction in sodium would serve me well.

My meals consisted of:

Breakfast

-Whole wheat toast with 1/2 avocado (Na+ 280 mg + 10 mg)

-1 cup orange juice (Na+ 2 mg)

Lunch

-Trader Joe’s Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken (Na+ 220 mg)

-1 cup seedless red grapes (Na+ 3 mg)

-Water

Snack

-Peanut butter pretzels (Na+ 160 mg)

-Water

Dinner

-1 cup Magic Mineral Chicken Broth with vegetables (Na+ 880 mg)

-1 serving Simply potatoes mashed potatoes (Na+ 330 mg)

 

Total sodium intake: 1,885 mg

Recommended 24 hour sodium intake: 1,500 mg