Sharing some observations

[NanT]

Just thought I would share this. I was having afib/aflutter episodes daily until a couple of months ago. I had been experimenting with various changes in diet and lifestyle to try to reduce the number of attacks. I eat quite healthily and for some time had eaten porridge for breakfast. I found that when I changed to a breakfast cereal (fruit and fibre) my episodes stopped almost immediately. Whether this is due to something that doesn't suit in the porridge or the vitamins and minerals added to the cereal that I was lacking (b vitamins, iron etc) I don't know, but it has worked so far. Thought I would share.

[BobD Volunteer]

Well aren't you lucky! I eat porridge for breakfast every day with no problems at all and find it helps me NOT graze during the mornings. I can't see that there is anything in normal rolled oats . with maybe salt and sugar which could be a trigger. I have minimal milk, only about 150ml skimmed plus 150 ml water when I make mine plus some sugar or honey. I would have thought that there are more additives in commercial cereals than plain oats so maybe you were lacking in a mineral as you suggest.

At the end of the day it is what you believe and what affects you that matters as we are all so different in the way we present with AF. Good luck.

Bob

[NanT in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob. Yes I am lucky (for now). I will let you know if it continues.

[jeanjeannie50]

That's interesting. I have been having porridge every day for about 6 months and am having episodes of AF often. Will give the fruit and fibre a try. Which one do you buy?

[NanT in reply to jeanjeannie50]

I have tried Kellog's, Asda's and a random one abroad and they all seemed to do the job. I always check they have similar vitamins/minerals in them.

[teach2learn in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Then again, I've been eating breakfast cereals (and taking multivitamins) for years, with increasing episodes of afib until it was 100% of the time. Ablation did the trick, though.

[EngMac]

Do the cereals have sugar or artificial sweeteners in them? I read that low fat milk has a lot of "milk" sugar and therefore only whole milk should be used if sugar is an issue and the porridge itself is a carbohydrate which turns to sugar. So maybe for you sugar is not the culprit.

[NanT in reply to EngMac]

Hmmm...interesting - I will check it out.

[Finvola]

Very interesting NanT - whatever works is the best, isn't it? Long may it continue.

I have organic oat porridge with goat's milk and a sliced banana every morning - so far, so good - but I might give your suggestion a try, thank you.

[flyfisher]

Hi, are the oats you buy sugar glazed or sugar free organic.

[NanT in reply to flyfisher]

No, just bog-standard oats.

[flyfisher in reply to NanT]

Thanks for your reply, after I was diagnosed I checked all food contents I was eating. I found some supermarket brand cereals had gluten and added sugar, whereas genuine brand cereals had lower sugar and were mainly gluten free. I feel it was beneficial , in my case , to change to the low sugar / low or no gluten products. The sugar content of kellogs cornflakes / sainsburys brand cornflakes would be a good example.

[NanT in reply to flyfisher]

Thanks. I'll look out for that.

[Hidden]

No surprise there NanT ..... no need to convince me at all. I cannot eat porridge at all now .... and I love it. 6 months after I was diagnosed with AF I identified the onset of an AF event with food I'd eaten. Long story short ... saw a nutritionist, went on a course of VSL#3 probiotic powder, went gluten free and followed (fairly closely) the FODMAPS diet and now 4 and half years down the track I can't remember my last AF event. Would never claim to be cured (AF is - apart from politicians - the most untrustworthy thing ) but am bloody brilliant now, 70 and still working, driving buses and annually regularly passing my DVLA/ PVC licence medical. Good luck.

John

[NanT]

Wow, that's great. I will don't think I have much gluten in my diet but will check it out. And I will look at he FODMAPS diet. Thank you for sharing that.

[Hidden]

I suggest you might want to read up on grains being poor for our digestion and how this can be helped by soaking overnight first. If you want to stick to porridge this could help. More info… westonaprice.org/health-top...

Personally, I am focussing on gastro issues now, which is helping; for breakfast it is Doves gluten free fibre flakes which I have for some time felt best after eating.