Diet Impact on HF Symptoms

Despite what I have learned about what can impact your hearts well being in general - I was wondering if there was any evidence of 'eating the wrong thing' in terms of making symptoms worse on a short term basis.

For example: would eating something like fish and chips, or McD's, or KFC or Crisps be likely to bring about an increase in symptoms sich as chest discomfort/ pain, increased palpitations or breathlessness.

At this point, I haven't signed up to any of such delicacies even though I have recieved offers of such treats for Fathers Day or Birthday in lieu of there being no restuarants open for carveries or similar. But I thought I would check before letting myself in for trouble whilst trying to appease the desires of family to enoy a celabratory 'feast' under the current conditions.

Thoughts are welcome, thank you.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Since my bypass I have found that I am much more sensitive to greasy and/or spicy food - get reflux.

A friend has virtually eliminated his AF, and stopped the medication, since eliminating alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and spicy food from his diet.

If I was having any of those I would go for a large cod, half a small chips and a couple of gherkins.

[Hidden in reply to MichaelJH]

Cod without batter by the sounds of it. Thank you for your input

[Sunnie2day]

I think the answer depends on what, if any, dietary recommendations your medics have given you - and if they haven't you should ask specifically. Everyone is different so really, the best person to ask is your medic. And if he/she is vague, ask to be referred to a dietician or nutritionist.

As an example of 'eating the wrong thing whilst having a heart condition' - I'm on a restricted sodium-salt diet (since the early 2000s, owing to recurrent pericarditis) and if I accidentally eat something high in sodium-salt content I can feel the unfortunate results within an hour or so. Fingers, legs, ankles swell alarmingly and tell me there is a chance the fluid in my pericardium may be increasing - in my case it can be life-threatening so I am very careful to avoid going over my limit.

Again, you really should ask your medic for specific recommendations and if he/she is vague about what you can enjoy and what you should avoid, you should ask for a referral to a specialist. There are delicious 'work-arounds' for nearly all dietary restrictions - I have worked out recipes I use at home for all my favs from fried chicken to Tex-Mex and Cajun, and how to cook or bake tasty gluten-free for my husband (Coeliac).

[Hidden in reply to Sunnie2day]

Thank you, I have been advised of low salt, potassium and low fat. As said in a previous post, I have made the moves the eliminate almost all red meat, dairy and saturated fats. So most of the foods mentioned in the opening thread that I am asking about are no longer in my normal list of things eaten. I have seen a dietition in the early part of the year, because some of the stuff that i wanted to eat as part of a recommended diet in terms of salt and fat were not good in terms of potassium and vice versa.

I was wondering if there are any experienced information about the food stuffs listed before I agree to family requests to join them when such foodstuffs are being served as the 'main course'.

[Sunnie2day in reply to Hidden]

I use a book from the USA listing the sodium content of every food from fresh fruit and veg, meats, and processed foods, and also lists content from several chain restaurants. I use the US book counts for 'raw/fresh' foods here in the UK 'guesstimating' lower or higher counts depending on what I can find out about soil nutrients for the area the produce is from, or what feeds the beef and chicken I eat are 'finished' on. So far it's working for me.

Unfortunately we don't have a UK specific book so I very rarely enjoy a restaurant meal. I also am careful about meals at friends homes - 'hidden' salt is difficult to discover and I hate asking friends to go to the trouble of a special menu just for me so I tend to decline most dinner party invitations. It's a bit better with family who are all on low-sodium/salt diets but they are all currently still in the US.

Luckily most foods, 'raw/fresh' or processed, available here in Britain in supermarkets are labelled for salt content. I found the BHF publication on salt in the diet very helpful (includes a formula for converting sodium mg to salt grams):

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...