Donald Gazzaniga's cardiologist made it plain and clear — Gazzaniga's heart was on its way to total failure and he needed a heart transplant in order to survive.

"I was in total denial. In fact, I felt like I was in a 'B' movie when one of my doctor's suggested I had only six months to a year to live." But he snapped back to reality quickly, and his first question to his doctor was what he could do to increase his chances of survival. "To be honest, the answer wasn't that encouraging. I was told that if I could lower my sodium intake to levels well below the American average of 8000 milligrams per day, it might help to extend what appeared to be a very short future."

Gazzaniga's cardiologist had doubts it could be done. He said the levels would have to drop to under 1500 to 2000 milligrams a day to be effective. "Maybe it was my military training (he is a former Marine officer) that encouraged me to accept the challenge a strict low-salt diet would present. Or, more realistically, maybe it was the question of saving a life -- mine."

In remarkable good health all his life, Gazzaniga's heart problem caught him completely by surprise. "It all began in 1996, at age 63, while I was working as a cinematographer, filming a TV sitcom pilot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Standing down from the dolly I was on I got so dizzy I had to grab onto it to steady myself. It was near midnight and I had been going since six in the morning, so I shrugged it off as fatigue.

The next noticeable sign was the actual physical debilitation that occurred near his home in Loomis, California (near Sacramento) while he was rowing in an eight-man shell about a month after the first incident. "I had been experiencing breathing problems for about four years which had been diagnosed as adult-onset asthma. I had been treated with breathers and prednisone, but they never really worked because, we didn't realize at the time, the diagnosis had missed the mark.

"Meanwhile, my heart was getting larger and larger until finally, in that rowing shell, it nearly stopped beating. A few days later I was undergoing a coronary angiogram to check on the blood flow to my heart to see if I had coronary artery disease.

His vessels were "cleaner than a whistle," according to Gazzaniga's doctor. But the ultimate diagnosis was CHF -- Congestive Heart Failure, a condition whereby the ventricles are not able to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs for oxygen and nutrients -- and Gazzaniga was informed the disease was terminal and his only chance for survival was a heart transplant. The low-salt option was just that -- something that might gain him a little time while he waited on the transplant list.

"I decided to start the low-salt regimen immediately," Gazzaniga says. "Better yet, I would get down to 500 mg or fewer a day, much lower even than the traditional low-salt diets. Actually, it wasn't a diet -- it was a whole new lifestyle. And I realized that either I do it or I'm outta here."

An amateur chef, Gazzaniga dove into the challenge like a man possessed, which, indeed, he was. This was a matter of life or death and if a no-salt diet would help his survival chances, it was an option he obviously had to exercise. Gazzaniga created nearly 350 no-salt recipes, all of which he test-cooked. He adjusted the recipes when necessary and each turned out to be delicious, nutritious and popular even among his salt eating friends and family members.

The success of the new "lifestyle," which was combined with medication prescribed by his cardiologist, was remarkable. Not only has Gazzaniga avoided a heart transplant, he has been able to return to a near-normal life. It also encouraged him to put his no-salt recipes into a cookbook, and his "The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook" was published by St. Martin's Press in 2001, and it was followed by "The No-Salt Lowest Sodium Baking Book," also published by St. Martin's Press, in April, 2003.

While Gazzaniga is a published author -- his novel, "A Few Good Men -- The Marines," was released a few years ago by Signet Books -- what makes him most proud as an author is the cookbooks. "The fact that these books have helped not only people who had congestive heart failure, but those who face low-salt diets with chronic diseases like high blood pressure, liver, kidney, Meniere's and others, gives me great pleasure. It's an awesome thing being able to help so many people return to a more normal life after a seriously life-threatening diagnosis."

Gazzaniga's medical mentor is Dr. Michael Fowler, director of the Stanford University Heart Transplant Program. Commenting on Gazzaniga's remarkable recovery, Dr. Fowler says, "I have known many patients whose heart failure symptoms were recurrent and so severe that they were advised to undergo heart transplantation, yet these same patients improved with sodium restriction to a degree that removed the requirement...The no salt, lowest sodium recipes he designed for himself (and later his books) had a profound impact on his ability to survive without overt heart failure symptoms and to therefore avoid a planned heart transplant. Since then, he has helped hundreds of patients we know of, to be removed from the heart transplant list."

In Gazzaniga's first cookbook, with the help of his daughter Jeannie Gazzaniga Moloo, who is a registered dietician with a Ph.D. in the subject, he created a 28-day meal-planning guide. "You can alter it, change it, or redo it using my recipes in the book," he says, "and when you're done totaling the sodium levels they always come out below 500 mg for a full day, which is amazingly low considering the average American ingests thousands of milligrams of sodium a day."

Gazzaniga started a website, www.megaheart.com, on which he offers a monthly newsletter with a few new recipes each month. His recipes have helped people from all over the world as exemplified by Joan E. Krapf of Tasmania, Australia, who writes: "My husband has been off salt and not needing hypertension medicine since we bought your book last March. It is like a bible with me. We are so thankful for all the work you have done and shared with us! Thank you, thank you...I want you to know I asked for a miracle -- and I got one."

When asked if anyone has ever complained about his recipes, he smiles and says, "No. What they do is offer some changes, which, of course, reflect their own tastes. I always test what they suggest and if it works, I put it online."

He also responds to every e-mail he gets. "I receive between 50 and 100 questions a day," he says. "It keeps me busy but I enjoy every moment of it."

How long will he continue his no-salt odyssey? "As long as I'm alive and kicking," he says. "I've met too many nice people to give up on it."

With the recent release of his no-salt baking book, Gazzaniga is now planning his next book which will feature soups, salads and sandwiches.

Following are three of his favorite no-salt recipes. "Try them," he says. "I'll bet you won't miss the salt."

CURRIED WINTER SQUASH SOUP
Squash is obtainable year round, but winter squash is our favorite. It's easy to grow. If you can plant some for next winter, you'll be pleased with the freshness and the flavor from your own backyard. Try this soup -- it may spur you on to become the world's next backyard farmer. By the way, the soup will work well with any yellow squash.

Makes 7 cups

Sodium Per Recipe: 56.7 mg
Sodium Per Cup: 8.099 mg

FRESH BASIL SANDWICH
With mozzarella and tomato slices One of the pleasures of life is that we can adapt many healthy foods to great tasting combinations. No longer do we need high sodium fast foods when we have flavors like fresh basil, fresh tomatoes and low sodium mozzarella. Use our Classic French Bread (next recipe) and this treat will become a habit. This recipe uses a low sodium mozzarella cheese from Trader Joe's. There are other brands of low sodium mozzarella available, but they often are found in specialty stores and not your general supermarket.

Makes 1 sandwich

Sodium Per Recipe: 25.1 mg

CLASSIC FRENCH BREAD
Round loaf or straight / Bread Machine Preparation / Oven Baking Before heart failure, I used to enjoy lunch at a local boulangerie where a small round loaf of French or sourdough bread served as the sandwich bread. The bread was as tasty and enjoyable as the insides were. Now, I make my own and here it is for you to also enjoy.

Makes 4 or 6 small loaves, or 2 long loaves, or 12 to 18 sandwich buns.

Servings: 32 Slices

Sodium Per Recipe: 25.9 mg
Sodium Per Slice: .809 mg