Contents
- Diet requirements after a heart attack
- Diet menu after a heart attack
- An example of a diet for the first stage of the diet after a heart attack
- Example of a diet for the second phase of the diet after a heart attack
- An example of a diet for the third stage of the diet after a heart attack
- Diet contraindications after a heart attack
- Benefits of a diet after a heart attack
- Disadvantages of a diet after a heart attack
- Re-dieting after a heart attack
Losing weight up to 12 kg in 2 months.
The average daily calorie content is 930 Kcal.
Myocardial infarction is a terrible disease that threatens not only health, but even life. Everyone who had to undergo it must absolutely completely change the rhythm of life, including the diet. We invite you to learn in detail about the diet, the rules of which are recommended to follow after a heart attack in order to help the body cope with the consequences of this acute condition and to maintain its functioning as much as possible.
Diet requirements after a heart attack
According to the scientific interpretation, myocardial infarction is an acute form of ischemic heart disease. A heart attack occurs when blood supply to any part of the heart muscle is cut off. Alas, as the statistics say, lately this ailment is getting younger. If earlier a heart attack occurred in people over 50 years old, now it happens in thirty and even very young people. Along with such provocateurs of heart attack as diabetes mellitus, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, heredity, high blood cholesterol, low physical activity, there is also excess weight. The more noticeable the amount of extra pounds, the greater the risk of facing this heart problem. Therefore, it is advisable to make proper nutrition and weight control the norm in advance.
How to organize meals if you or your loved ones still have a heart attack?
The post-attack diet can be broken down into three phases. In the first stage, which lasts one week, it is worth eating only boiled chicken or beef, lean fish, some ordinary crackers, milk and low-fat sour milk. You can eat a small amount of eggs, but preferably steamed. Also, the menu should now be supplemented with various cereals and vegetables, but the latter are recommended to be eaten in pureed form. A complete taboo is imposed on the consumption of smoked meats, any pastries, hard cheeses, coffee, alcohol, chocolate. Be sure to eat fractionally, at least 5 times a day, in small portions, without overeating.
The next 2-3 weeks the second stage lasts. Now you need to make a menu also from the above products, but it is already allowed not to grind vegetables, but to use them in their usual form. And in the first and second stages, you need to eat everything completely without salt. Food also remains fractional.
The third stage refers to the so-called scarring. It starts from about the fourth week after a heart attack. At this time, a low-calorie diet is prescribed, in which lard, fatty meat, fish, sausage products, fatty milk, coconut oil, legumes, radishes, spinach, sorrel, purchased sweets, high-calorie pastries and other harmful things like fast food should be abandoned. Also, you should not drink alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Now you can add a little salt. But it is important to carefully monitor its amount, which, in order not to harm health, should be up to 5 g per day. At first, it is better to limit yourself to 3 grams and salt the food immediately before eating it, and not during the preparation process. Now, in addition to the food allowed earlier, it is worth decorating the diet with dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, prunes, etc.). They will saturate the body with potassium, which is especially needed at this time to quickly normalize the work of the heart. You should definitely eat enough fish and seafood so that healthy iodine can enter the body.
It is worth noting that on a diet after a heart attack, you need to consume a moderate amount of liquid – about 1 liter (maximum 1,5) daily. Moreover, this capacity includes juices, teas, soups, various drinks, as well as food of liquid consistency.
The duration of the third stage must be determined by your doctor. But in later life, it is necessary to follow certain dietary rules, since people who have suffered a heart attack are at risk. Relapse may occur. Consider the basic recommendations, following which you will minimize the risk of this phenomenon.
- You need to eat fruits and vegetables. Your food should be rich in raw and boiled gifts of nature. Steaming and baking are also allowed. But avoid the presence of fried, canned, pickled food on the menu. Also, do not eat those fruits and vegetables that are cooked in a creamy or other fatty sauce.
- Provide fiber in your diet. Fiber has many beneficial properties. It is an excellent natural sorbent, contributes to the physiologically correct functioning of the intestines and helps to sooner saturation of satiety. Whole grains, wholemeal breads, and the fruits and vegetables mentioned above are excellent sources of fiber.
- Eat lean protein foods in moderation. After suffering a heart attack, you should not give up protein in the diet, but it is also not recommended to overload the menu with them. A pack of cottage cheese or 150-200 g of lean fish (seafood) or lean meat can easily fill the daily requirement for protein food.
- Minimize your intake of cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol levels increase the likelihood of both meeting with a primary heart attack and a recurrence of this phenomenon. For this reason, it is so important to control so that too much cholesterol does not enter the body along with food. Note that cholesterol, in addition to fast food and sausage products, is present in large quantities in offal (offal, liver, heart, brain), salmon and sturgeon caviar, all types of fatty meat, lard.
- Control salt intake. It is strictly forbidden to eat salted food. Firstly, it increases blood pressure, and secondly, it significantly reduces the effectiveness of the drugs taken, which are attributed to patients after the endured danger. Salt also contributes to a significantly greater load directly on the heart and blood vessels, as it retains fluid in the body and makes these organs work simply for wear and tear.
- Watch your portions and calories. As before, it is recommended to adhere to fractional meals, not overeating and at the same time not facing the feeling of hunger. It is important that you feel light and full all the time. Try to keep the amount of food consumed at a time not exceeding 200-250 g, and do not gorge yourself shortly before lights out. Ideal menu option: three full meals plus two light snacks. It is also important not to consume more calories than you should. The abundance of online calculators helps to calculate the correct number of energy units, which will allow you not to gain excess weight (after all, this fact also increases the risk of meeting with a heart attack). If you need to lose weight, you should eat a low-calorie diet.
To summarize, let’s make a list of recommended food for people who have suffered a heart attack:
– various cereals;
– low-fat dairy and dairy products;
– lean white meat;
– lean fish;
– vegetables (except for cucumbers);
– fruits and berries of a non-starchy type;
– greens;
– honey;
– dried fruits.
Of liquids, in addition to water, preference should be given to juices (not store-bought), compotes, teas (mostly green and white).
An example of a diet for the first stage of the diet after a heart attack
Breakfast: pureed oatmeal, to which you can add a little milk; cottage cheese (50 g); tea with milk.
Snack: 100 g of applesauce.
Lunch: a bowl of soup cooked in a decoction of vegetables; a piece of lean boiled non-solid meat; carrots (mashed or mashed), slightly sprinkled with vegetable oil; half a cup of homemade fruit jelly.
Afternoon snack: 50 g of cottage cheese and 100 ml of rosehip broth.
Dinner: stewed fish fillet; a portion of pureed buckwheat porridge; tea with a slice of lemon.
At night: half a glass of prune broth.
Example of a diet for the second phase of the diet after a heart attack
Breakfast: a steam omelet from the proteins of two eggs; semolina porridge cooked with fruit puree; tea with the addition of milk.
Snack: up to 100 g of curd and a glass of rosehip broth.
Lunch: a bowl of vegetarian low-fat borscht; about 50 g of boiled beef fillet; a few tablespoons of mashed potatoes; half a cup of homemade fruit jelly.
Afternoon snack: a small baked apple.
Dinner: a piece of boiled fish; carrot puree and lemon tea.
At night: up to 200 ml of low-fat kefir.
An example of a diet for the third stage of the diet after a heart attack
Breakfast: buckwheat with butter; a slice of low-fat cheese and tea with milk.
Snack: cottage cheese in the company of kefir or milk (150 g); rosehip broth (glass).
Lunch: oat and vegetable soup without frying; boiled chicken fillet (about 100 g); beets stewed in low-fat sour cream sauce.
Afternoon snack: a few slices of fresh or baked apple.
Dinner: boiled fish and a few tablespoons of mashed potatoes.
At night: about 200 ml of kefir.
Diet contraindications after a heart attack
It is impossible to adhere to a diet after a heart attack in its pure form in the presence of concomitant diseases or an allergic reaction to the proposed products. In this case, you need to adjust the technique for yourself, using your doctor.
Benefits of a diet after a heart attack
- Diet after a heart attack helps to minimize the consequences of this condition as quickly as possible, and also has a positive effect on the body and health in general.
- Its principles absolutely do not contradict proper nutrition, which means that with the correct preparation of the menu, all the substances necessary for the body will enter it in a balanced amount.
- It is also good that the food is not meager. On such a diet, you can eat quite differently, without feeling any tangible infringements.
- If necessary, adjusting the calorie content, you will not only be able to improve your body, but also gradually, but effectively, lose excess weight.
Disadvantages of a diet after a heart attack
- The disadvantages of a post-infarction diet include the fact that some foods loved by many people usually need to be abandoned forever.
- Often you need to completely revise your diet and diet, significantly modernizing it.
- Getting used to a new lifestyle can take time and mental effort.
Re-dieting after a heart attack
Sticking to a loyal diet after a heart attack is usually necessary for life. The possibility of deviating from the diet or, conversely, returning to a more strict diet, must be discussed in detail with a qualified specialist.