Cucumber-Cream Cheese Bagel

Why this is on my plate today

Severe light-headedness. Classic POTS flare-up: heart rate spiking, vision narrowing, and shortness of breath. I skipped my 9 a.m. lecture because my symptoms were too severe and needed something salty, hydrating, and fast—I needed a snack that I could make while sitting. This bagel hits those marks: plenty of sodium from the bagel and cream cheese, quick carbs for blood-volume support, and water-rich cucumber to keep dehydration from making the dizziness worse.

Ingredients & where I grabbed them — 1 serving

Item	Amount	Bought at	Notes
Everything bagel	1	Harris Teeter bakery	≈530 mg sodium
Whipped cream cheese	2 Tbsp	Trader Joe’s	Spreads easily, ~180 mg sodium
English cucumber, thinly sliced	½ small	Durham Farmers’ Market	Hydrating, low histamine
Extra-virgin olive oil	1 tsp	Pantry	Optional drizzle
Cracked black pepper	pinch	Pantry	Brightens flavor
Fine sea salt	pinch	Pantry	Add only if dizziness still strong

Two-step assembly (standing time < 3 min)

1. Toast the bagel to golden; spread whipped cream cheese evenly.

2. Layer cucumber rounds, drizzle olive oil, finish with pepper (and extra salt if needed). Eat immediately—ideally seated.

Nutrition snapshot

• Sodium: ~710 mg (base recipe)

• Carbs: 52 g

• Protein: 11 g

• Fiber: 3 g

• Prep time: 5 minutes, most at the counter

(If you’re migraine-sensitive to dairy, swap in lactose-free cream cheese made the same day; histamine stays low.)