Finding a Balance: Enjoying Asian Cuisine on a Low-Sodium Diet

Food is a huge part of our lives, bringing comfort, joy, and social connection. For those with heart failure, however, diet undergoes a significant transformation due to restrictions on sodium, fluids, and saturated fats. While I'm in the same boat and have largely come to terms with the changes, I still crave certain foods that seem to be off-limits.

Asian foods are one of my biggest challenges. Many dishes are inherently salty due to ingredients like soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and oyster sauce. Soy sauce, the cornerstone of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisine, highlights this problem perfectly. Even "lower-sodium" versions aren't truly low-sodium. For example, Kikkoman's 50% Less Sodium Soy Sauce still packs 470 mg of sodium per tablespoon. On top of that, many pre-packaged ingredients are also salt heavy. A single package of frozen udon noodles, which I love, contains 360 mg of sodium.

Despite these challenges, I have found a few workarounds that have helped me enjoy this cuisine again. Life is much harder when we must completely give up the foods we love, and the heart failure journey is difficult enough. If you're finding your favorite foods at odds with a low-sodium diet, I encourage you to seek out your own creative solutions.

Smart flavor substitutions for heart failure

One of the easiest workarounds is using ingredient substitutions. For soy sauce, I recommend trying coconut aminos. While it doesn't taste exactly the same, it's a great substitute that's also gluten-free. For instance, Nutiva Coconut Aminos has only 270 mg of sodium per tablespoon.

I have also found that white vinegar or apple cider vinegar adds tang without using rice vinegar, which contains more sodium. You can also build authentic Asian flavor with ingredients that contain zero sodium, such as:

• Fresh ginger
• Minced garlic
• Onions
• Sesame oil

For more variations, consider using red pepper flakes for spice or real orange juice and zest for a citrusy kick. You can also use cornstarch as a thickener to create a rich texture without adding more sodium or sugar.

For example, I have made a dipping sauce of 1 part low sodium soy sauce, 2 parts white vinegar, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. I can't eat a lot of it, for obvious reasons, but a few dunks satisfies my cravings.

Modifying recipes and using new tools

You can also adapt existing recipes to make them low-sodium friendly.

A great example is an orange chicken sauce from Christie at Home that typically has 820 mg of sodium per serving. We have made it by substituting coconut aminos for soy sauce, and it tastes fantastic. We also cut back on the brown sugar.

Another tip is to use spray bottles. You can buy them on Amazon for a reasonable price and fill them with a thin sauce (chunky sauces will clog the sprayer). A few sprays here and there give you a taste of a high-sodium sauce without overdoing it. You can even carry one discreetly to a restaurant to add a little flavor to your meal.

I hope these tips help you incorporate Asian cuisine back into your diet, if it is something you are missing. What other workarounds have you found for high-sodium foods?