Diet

[190919]

My husband just had 2 stents 1 week ago ..... I’m desperately trying to get as much information as I can regarding diet ... there seems to be a lot of contradiction around certain foods .. I just want to know a straightforward yes or know about chicken and yogurt ..... I have been weighing his food I have been giving him small amounts of chicken and 0% yogurt but now I’m worried I might be adding to the problem not improving his chances can someone please help

[Clerkenweller]

The BHF site has a lot of excellent information about diet and personally I wouldn’t take advice from any other source. As you will have discovered the web is the wild west when looking for advice. Generally speaking a Mediterranean diet is key. There are no issues with low fat yoghurt or chicken (no skin).

The other key to recovery is careful exercise. Again the BHF has advice. Not sure at present with regard to availability but if offered cardio rehab then your husband should do it. It’s a slightly bumpy road he’s on but he will be fine. This is a great place for support and generally allowing yourself to vent!

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Was the stenting elective or post heart attack?

The biggest priorities in both cases are actually cessation of smoking and treatment of high blood pressure if these are applicable.

Next are cholesterol and diet. The BHF recommend the Mediterranean diet. There is quite a bit about it and various recipes on their website. Here's a starter:

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Basically nothing is excluded but eating more salads, vegetables and oily fish is encouraged. A lot of it is in the preparation; fried chicken is bad but grilled chicken is healthy. Try not to overdo the fruit as it is possible to take in a lot of sugar in the form of fructose. As a Type I Diabetic I limit my carbohydrate intake to around 120 gm - 130 gm per day and feel this is a good guideline for the majority.

There are other diets but personally I feel they are only suitable in certain circumstances such as a obese person with pre-diabetes reversing these issues.

[Patricia88 in reply to MichaelJH]

Watch the food labels. Try and stick to less than 8 mg sat fat per day .use cold pressed rapeseed oil.costs more but can get it cheap from certain supermarkets if do own brand .also powdered turmeric to help with inflamation. Plenty mixed veg .I even make pastry and cakes with the oil it is easy to make with fork or a mixer.i use one cup flour to quarter cup of oil ,trial gets it perfect .good luck 😷

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Patricia88]

Great care should be exercised if supplementing with Tumeric or Curcumin. They could enhance the effects of drugs like Warfarin, Clopidogrel and Aspirin, and possibly cause a bleed. Tumeric can also increase the production of stomach acid counteracting drugs like Omeprazole, Lansoprazole and Rantidine. Before using any supplement it is advisable to check with your GP or cardiologist.

[Hidden]

I found both the BHF and NHS advice to be contradictory in places. Avoid saturated fat but eat oat cakes? Full fat yoghurt or reduced fat yoghurt? Lower my total cholesterol but raise my HDL? These are just a few of the issues.

So I did my own research and decided upon a ketogenic diet. Real food, healthy fats and plenty of vegetables. Avoid processed food, sugar and refined carbs. Avoid all grain products (wheat, barley, rye, rice, corn) and unfortunately you also have to cut out potatoes.

I've been on this diet for 6 weeks and I feel it is working well. I'm yet to see what effect it has had on my cholesterol, but I'm not worried about it because I believe this is a healthy diet.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Oh, and avoid all oils from 'seed'. Canola, rapeseed, sunflower, vegetable. These are all harmful oils.

[Prada47 in reply to Hidden]

Hello

Are you 100% sure of that statement ? it is very wide ranging.

Hands Face Space to stay safe

[Hidden in reply to Prada47]

I am. Many of these seed oils are not created how you might imagine - crushing seeds and collecting the oil. They undergo heat treatments and chemical solvents to extract the oils. The damaging free radicals from these oils can exist in your body for up to to 2 years. As an aside they generally have an unhealthy Omega 6:3 balance. A typical Western diet would benefit from reducing this ratio.

As you would expect, there is conflicting information online, because big industry wants you to continue buying them, but if your rule if thumb is to avoid processed food, then these oils are highly processed and should similarly be avoided.

[080311 in reply to Hidden]

Could you send me a link to the rapeseed oil data, I have been using this for the last few years as recommended by BHF. So would love to read where this as come from.

[Hidden in reply to 080311]

Up until 6 weeks ago, I used rapeseed oil all the time. See above for my explanation of the problem. Cold-pressed rapeseed is probably okay, because it's not the seeds that are the problem, it is the process by which the oils are made.

[080311 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks use cold -press so will carry on.

[Hidden in reply to 080311]

Good stuff, but watch your omega 6 intake. I found this article which I think is quite informative. chriskresser.com/how-indust...

[190919]

Thank you so much for your replies.... the stents were because of heart attack due to high cholesterol .... I must be doing something right he has lost over a stone in a week he’s never been a smoker and was very active but is over weight ..... my journey for knowledge has begun!!!!!!

[Outforawalk]

Completely agree. Small and maintainable changes, bit by bit, will make a big difference in the long run.

[Ianc2]

Try mixing olive oil and good quality balsamic vinegat as a salad dressing. Tastes good and is a great part of the mediterranean diet..

[IMAGES]

Hi 190919, I had two stents fitted a year ago last August, my diet was not to bad, my advice is to eat lots of protein, fresh green veg, Oily fish at least once a week, just cut out as much fat as possible, Its worth starting to read the fat content on the ingredients of your food, avoid ready meals if possible, portion wise it doesn't really matter so long as the content is beneficial. And yes you can also have a wee treat now and again, get your hubby to start waking a wee bit each day, building up to a mile a day at least. If he gets the chance to go to heart rehabilitation classes, jump at the chance , recovery will be much quicker and safer then doing it all by guess work. Hope that helps.

[Heartinthehills]

Good to see another partner taking your husbands recovery seriously. I would agree whole heartedly with your first reply from Clerkenweller and suggest you should keep the change in diet simple and not dwell on the detail. My wife attended a cardiac rehab class talk on diet from the hospital nutritionist with me 7 years ago. We have tried most of the BHF healthy heart recipes and regularly use the ones we like. She also bought a Heart Healthy diet recipe book and found some of our regular favourites in there. As already mentioned regular exercise is as important as diet and it sounds like your husband is already doing that and losing some weight. There are some useful quizzes on the BHF website to develop your understanding on diet and a good idea for you both to do them. Watching salt content is as important if not more important than fat content. Statins will reduce your husbands cholesterol level and future blood tests should verify this. My level is now at around 3 down from around 5.8 before my incident. I still enjoy occasional treats, a good steak, roast pork and crackling and cream on my pudding. Don't make meals a misery and keep enjoying your food.