Survive A Cortisone Diet In Paris

Eating in Paris  is very important. What if you are coming for a visit and suddenly  have to follow a strict diet!? First, I would recommend renting an apartment so you have your own kitchen. Having to go to the grocery store, specialty stores or the market  is a wonderful way to live as a Parisian for your stay.

Recently, due to cortisone medication, I was put on a no-salt and no-sugar diet for two weeks. By the end of the diet, I was not eating that much salt and sugar in the first place. Instead of gaining 10 kilos (about 20 pounds as my doctor said usually happens), I managed to lose two kilos.

On the fourteenth day, the last day of the regime, at dinner, I fell off the wagon. I drank wine full strength, ate regular baguette and had two desserts, chocolate with sugar and crème caramel.

You might be coming to Paris and be on a similar type diet and wonder how to survive in Paris. You will have to control what and where you eat. One of the best ways to survive is to rent an apartment so you can cook or microwave a few things.

Another solution is to visit a Web site to find restaurants who will prepare your food “sans sel” (without salt). The Web site Restosansel.com has 94 restaurants listed for the Paris area. Readers are invited to add to their list. For instructions on how to use their site, visit my “How to find…” page and the heading “Restaurants without salt“.

A few tips where to shop:

1. You can order salt-free bread from the boulangerie. I ordered it the day before and told them about when I would be in to pick it up. My loaf cost one euro, no extra charge for slicing.
2. Naturalia is a health food store where you find organic products, for example, the unsalted biscotti. Naturalia is also a source of organic fruit.
3. At the market find a direct-to-consumer type farmer (Maraîcher – pronounced marashay). Ours is located at the far end of the market near the bridge. They are located between Lorenzo, the fish monger and the cheese family. They use a minimum of pesticides and sell only vegetables in season. They are on the Sunday and Thursday market days.
4. Affären in Paris is a Swedish boutique in the Pigalle area. Agneta sells raw grain oatmeal from Sweden and many more things. She also has a supply of gluten-free products.
5. Visit my food market Web page. Three organic food markets are available in Paris.
6. Looking for salt-free (sans sel) pistachios in a regular grocery store? Try the chain Carrefour (their affiliates are: Champion, Shopi, 8 à huit, Proxi).
7. Plain yogurt that is whipped (e.g., Velouté by Danone) mixed with fresh organic fruit makes a naturally sweet, yummy, healthy dessert.
8. Order a rotisserie chicken from the boucher (butcher) and ask that it not be seasoned. Otherwise, take the skin off of the cooked chicken.

Here is a cortisone diet – No salt no sugar no potassium, that I followed for fourteen days:

If you have any questions, write to me!
Day 1
Breakfast
Oatmeal (rågflingor = rye flakes that look like oatmeal) – Affären
Fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit

Lunch
Pork roast slices
Ratatouille homemade
Scented rice from Camargue
Biscotte no salt no sugar found at Naturalia
Sweet butter without salt
1/4 cup rose wine and sparkling water lowest in salt
Plain yogurt Danone without additives

Supper
Tomato salad (from our local farmer “maraicher” at the Bastille/Richard Lenoir Sunday market)
Pistachios unsalted from the Carrefour grocery store
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Red currant fresh from market
Prepared fish for week from market – filets of  sardines and mackerel in olive
Herbes de Provence

Day 2
Rågflingor (pronounced rawg) oatmeal from Affären
Water from tap squeezed lemon
Red currant apple peeled
Coffee with soy no sugar
Biscotte with sweet butter

Lunch
Basmati rice
Sardines
Cauliflower 3 min olive oil Baux de Provence. Herbs de Provence and coriander
Sparkling water with squeezed half grapefruit
Yogurt

Supper
Fresh baked bread no salt
Sweet butter
Salad with laitue and  feuille de chêne
Beets grated
Cauliflower and broccoli blanched olive oil
Fresh green beans three minutes marinated in olive oil
Chicken
Water

Day 3
Breakfast
Rye oatmeal with red currants and sliced half apple
Water
Coffee with soy
Bread slice with butter

Lunch
Basmati rice
Sardines
Cucumber, grated fresh beets
Chives
Olive oil
Yogurt and fresh red currants
Water

Supper
Sliced fresh farm fresh garden tomatoes one plate with sheep cheese (brebis). The other with unsalted caillebotte cheese
Olive oil, herbs de Provence, unsalted pistachios
Blend of grated young leek (cooked in microwave 2-3 minutes), organic carrots, and celery
Dessert dark chocolate 75% sugar free

Day 4
Breakfast
Oatmeal with red currants sliced half apple
Water and half orange
Biscotte with caillebotte cheese
Coffee with soy

Lunch
Yogurt with red currants
Rice
Marinated broccoli and cauliflower with coriander and olive oil
Left over chicken marinated in small amount of ratatouille sauce
Grated beets encircle the plate
Bread and butter
Water

Supper
Gouda no salt found at the fromagerie Trotté
Bread and butter
Sliced tomatoes sliced baked spring onions
French green beans
Pork roast slices
1/4 cup rose mixed with sparkling water

Day 5
Breakfast
Oatmeal half apple red currants soy
Water and half orange
Biscotte with caillebotte cheese
Coffee with soy

Lunch
Mackerel green beans
Rice
Chives
Chocolate – à la Petite Fabrique* sells dark chocolate tablets for diabetics. Maltitol replaces the sugar. They do not sell this in milk chocolate (milk contains sugar).
Water

Sweet craving: two raisins

Supper
Bruschetta with fresher crushed tomatoes, basil, olive oil
Salt free organic bread
Caillebotte cheese
Fresh strawberries in yogurt
Fresh chopped white peach and apricots (France)

Day 6
Breakfast
Fruit from above
Oatmeal with soy fresh squeezed grapefruit
Juice with water

Lunch
Rice, green beans, chopped pistachios, chopped and marinated celery, carrots and spring onion
Fresh tomato juice

Supper
Salad: feuille de chêne, tomatoes, chives, chicken, cauliflower
Chocolate
Sparkling pear cider mixed with water

Day 7
Breakfast
Oatmeal whit peaches, two raisins, half apple, soy
Fresh OJ

Lunch
Pasta tagliatelle ratatouille mixed with tomato sauce chicken
Chocolate

Gouté
Beet chips organic unsalted

Supper
Tomato salad pistachios
Fake Lambrusco with Côte de Rhone wine and sparkling water
Bread cheese

Day 8
Breakfast
Oatmeal soy apricots, few raisins
Fresh OJ
Bread butter (3 tiny slices) two with raw honey two with butter
Coffee soy

Aperitif
Beet chips
Fake Lambrusco

Lunch
Shrimp in ratatouille sauce
Rice
Bread

Supper
Quiche must remove the salted ham pieces (lardons) (too much salt too sensitive)
Salad
Tomatoes sliced chives and olive oil
Morsels of duck
Water
Cherries

Day 9
Breakfast
Organic white juicy wonderful peach
Oatmeal with apple and fresh cherries
Black currant mixed with water
Coffee soy
Bread and caillebotte cheese

Lunch
Black currant and water
Sardines grated red beets, grated, marinated carrot, celery and leek salad, lettuce, cucumber, lime
Bread goat cheese with basil
Yogurt and fresh cherries

Supper
Jardinière salad: fresh peas, carrots, leek and new potatoes with butter
Bread with goat and basil cheese
Water flavored with rise wine
Cantaloupe and fresh cherries

Day 10
Breakfast
Oatmeal with cherries and apple and soy
Coffee and soy
Bread and butter

Lunch
Penne pasta
Tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes, zucchini and leek microwaved in olive oil
Sardines
Plain yogurt with fresh apricots
Black currant in water

Casse-croûte or un goûter (snack)
Almonds and raisins

Supper
Sliced tomato with olive oil and basil
Jardinière salad
Cantaloupe and cherries

Day 11
Standard breakfast

Lunch
Ratatouille with chicken and camargue rice
Yogurt and peaches

Supper
Tomato salad with pistachio and fresh basil
Bread with goat cheese/basil
Gouda unsalted
Yogurt sauce with fresh fruit

Day 12
Breakfast with fruit currant and water, coffee

Lunch
Rice carrots cucumber chicken fresh thyme and chives
Currant and water
Yogurt with organic peach

Supper
Tomato salad with pistachio and leek
Chocolate
Rose wine

Day 13
Breakfast
Oatmeal and almonds, peach, apple
Currant water

Lunch
Rice red pepper eggplant zucchini
Almonds thyme and herbs de Provence
Gouda
Yogurt with nectarine
Currant water
Chocolate

Supper
Tomato salad pistachio
Cantaloupe chocolate
Rose wine

Day 14
Breakfast
Oatmeal fresh OJ
Toast with butter
Coffee soy

Apéro (aperitif)
Pichouline olives and pistachio

Lunch
Jardinière salad: fresh peas, carrots, leek and new potatoes with butter
with pork roast and gravy
Champagne
Nectarine

Supper when I “fell off the wagon” so to speak
Tomato and mixed greens salad
Baguette “traditional”
Rosé wine
Crème caramel

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