Eating out on a low-sodium. heart-healthy diet?

Does anyone have any restaurant suggestions for someone who is on a "heart healthy" diet, specifically low sodium?

My best pal and I used to have lunch (Thai, Polish, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, et al) several times a week until he had a mild heart attack six months ago. He went on a very strict diet, lost weight, and got his cholesterol and body fat down. Kudos to him. But now he's obsessed with not having salt or fats and he fears restaurant eating. I know there are millions of heart patients who eat in restaurants, so what suggestions can I make to my friend? Where can we go?

And from a totally selfish point of view, I miss the lunches -- and the companionship -- we used to share.

I grew up in a VERY low sodium household, and still to this day, I maintain a lower sodium diet. Your friend will probably figure out how to eat in restaurants by learning what things to avoid. Also, when you go low sodium, your palate changes - it doesn't take long either. You start to get grossed out by oversalted foods. Your tastebuds grow more sensitive.
I tried to eat a green olive about three months ago. I spit it across the room, and washed my mouth out for two minutes. I still shudder just thinking about it.
ANYHOO -
You can be fine going to a restaurant, but as a general guideline for me, asian restaurants tend to be the saltiest. Especially americanized asian foods. Soy and oyster sauces are loaded with sodium. I've found also that generally, Polish restaurants overload on salt. Mexican and Italian are safe bets as long as you stay away from heavily sauced or "cheesed" dishes.

I would recommend for your first lunch you try for an Italian place.
Pasta with a grilled meat and sauteed spinach (and/or other veggies) tossed in an olive oil / lemon juice based sauce with no added salt in the prep. Any Italian joint worth it's ahem *salt,* should be able to do this with VERY little interruption of the kitchen flow.

When (low sodium) eating in a restaurant, more things to consider generally:
Gravy = bad
Sauce = bad
Foodservice Soup = VERY, VERY, VERY bad
cheese = bad
dips = bad
grilled meats = better
pasta = better (***olive oil based sauces are easy for chefs to modify/ create on the fly - don't expect marinara or alfredo to be altered for low sodium on request as it is more than likely pre-made )
Cured meats = VERY bad

Quick side note: tell your friend that unsalted butter mixed with lemon and balsamic vinegar is something to try as a sauce when getting tired of blandness from lower sodium eating. Also, sour cream is a cheap source of a salty flavor without the sodium.

Karyn's Cooked would be a good fit- not all of their dishes are heart-healthy (deep-fried mushrooms are delicious but probably not on his current list of foods to be eating!), but he would still have lots of choices.

Karyn's Cooked
738 N Wells
http://www.karynraw.com/pgs/kfc_km.html

I too have high cholesterol, and at the age of 30 had to drastically change my eating habits. I always tried to do the low carb thing so fats didn't bother me as much especially since I'm trim, but now I have to watch the fat so thats the frustating part. Restaurant eating in general is hard too when watching sodium.

One of my favorite places is Fan Si Pan, for the spring rolls -- this one in particular:

Aromatic Chicken: $4.50 salad $4.75
-chicken steamed with basil, cilantro, mint, kefir lime,
lemongrass and ginger comes with lettuce, rice noodles, red
pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts, papaya, mint, basil and
cilantro.

They also serve sides like steamed green beans which is nice.

Check it out:

http://www.fansipanchicago.com/

(312) 738 - 1405
1618 W Chicago Ave
Chicago IL 60622

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to talk my friend into trying Fan Si Pan and Karyn's.

And Seebee. I had to laugh at your olive comment. I've never had a real craving for salt and never think of adding it to anything I'm eating. However, I do like an olive in my vodka and I have had a similar, though milder, reaction when I bite into it. The vodka helps!

By the way, does anyone know of any particular low-salt Thai dishes or Thai restaurants that go easy on the salt?

Penpoint wrote:Does anyone have any restaurant suggestions for someone who is on a "heart healthy" diet, specifically low sodium?

But now he's obsessed with not having salt or fats and he fears restaurant eating. I know there are millions of heart patients who eat in restaurants, so what suggestions can I make to my friend? Where can we go?

And from a totally selfish point of view, I miss the lunches -- and the companionship -- we used to share.

Personally, if one is VERY serious about a low-sodium (say 2.0g/NA per day) diet, I do not really see how they are going to eat out and hit the target. Most restaurants season their meats quite heavily. Many Italian places use canned tomatoes which have substantial amounts of sodium.
In general, to get to those low limits (which is generally what most cardiologists aim for) you really avoid canned foods, processed foods and the like.

If you take a more liberal target (4.0g/NA per day), you can probably eat out at most places if you ask them to prepare meat products without salt and the like.

Do realize that MOST restaurants will NOT have the capacity to prepare gravies, sauces, and the like low-sodium. When I was running a hospital food service, we had a variety of low-sodium products that made the preparation quite easy. Also, we could produce a number of low-sodium sauces in quantity as we would use them all week long.

What I would recommend is that you prepare a picnic lunch which will give you absolute and complete control of the food.

Wow, I never realized the problem in eating out for the devoted dieter. Every other person I've known who's had a cardiac condition -- heart attack, bypass, stent, valve replacement -- seems to be able to exist quite well eating out. I guess I'll have to eat with them or find a new dining companion. Looks like my best pal and I will have to find some other activity.

All depends on the dietary restrictions. Not all "heart patients" need to go strictly low sodium. Strict low sodium will be VERY challenging to adhere to while eating out. A heart attack is a good scare to get your diet into shape, and it's possible your friend is over doing it, and will ease up after a few stamps of approval from dr visits. If this is the case, then eating out becomes easier, after you decipher what foods to avoid so you don't OD on sodium.

As for low salt Thai - I think for the most part, you'd have to stay away from dishes with curry paste, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. I think you're better off leaving out Asian places until your friend decides how much sodium he can handle.