Overcoming Meniere's: How changing your lifestyle can change your life by Knoblauch PhD Mark

Author:Knoblauch PhD, Mark [Knoblauch PhD, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kiremma Press
Published: 2018-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

Learning the basics, setting my standards

My official entry into a low-sodium lifestyle came about in the months after my final, most severe attack. It was then that I began to focus on making legitimate sodium-based changes to my diet. After my initial diagnosis I had made some changes, but I didn’t understand at the time the true reach of sodium within the food industry. Instead, I made ‘generic’ changes by eliminating well-known, high-sodium food options such as soups, fast food, barbecue, etc. I didn’t realize at the time that I was still consuming plenty of other foods without being aware of or even looking into the sodium level. During this phase – in between my diagnosis with Ménière’s and my final severe attack, I had lingering symptoms but was nowhere near the level of miserable I had been for the previous three years.

After my final attack in May of 2012 I was frustrated, depressed, angry, and defeated all at once. A return trip to my neurotologist helped me understand that although I had cut out some sodium from my diet, I was still taking in a significant amount. So much, in fact, that even another drastic reduction in sodium would still leave me well within the acceptable range. As I started to research more into sodium and food, I realized the extent of sodium’s reign. And I started to look deeper into physiology, both regarding how sodium worked as well as how much sodium was really required for a body to function normally.

What I quickly found was that there was a tremendous chasm of difference. Most Americans take in over 3500mg of sodium, yet the body only truly requires 500mg or so to function. However, 500mg should not be a daily, dietary target for multiple reasons. For one, the listed sodium content of food is derived from either a chemical analysis of the entire food item or by adding together the sodium contents of the individual ingredients. Even small errors in food consumption estimations could result in a much lower sodium intake than expected. For example, if the sodium content of a particular food item is based on an eight-ounce serving, and you consumed one spoonful – without weighing out the food, how confident are you that you had eight ounces of food? An estimation that you took in 100mg of sodium could easily end up actually being only 50mg, in turn reducing your overall sodium intake as well. Second, 500mg is assuming relatively sedentary activity. Any activity such as exercise would require a higher sodium intake due to increased sodium excretion. Therefore, 1000mg or 1500mg daily sodium intakes are typically recommended for Ménière’s patients.

Using this information, one of the first things I did was to establish my sodium intake. I started off at 1500mg per day which was quite a challenge initially. However, the reduction in my Ménière’s symptoms made the effort to cut excess sodium quite motivating. Going from constant anxiety and random four-hour bouts of vertigo to

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