Diet after myocardial infarction and stenting

Due to the increased rhythm of life, there is often a violation of the activity of the heart and, at the most unfavorable moments, a person has a myocardial infarction. The cause of such an unpleasant manifestation can be overweight, frequent stress, fatigue, especially if they are supplemented by malnutrition. In some cases, surgery is necessary. Nutrition is of particular importance after stenting of the heart vessels in case of a heart attack.

General basics of nutrition, regardless of gender

With pathologies of the heart, a different nutrition program is provided for women and men. For the fairer sex, the diet is to lower blood sugar levels. Men are prescribed food that helps reduce cholesterol. However, there are products that are prohibited for both sexes, among them:

• sausage in any form;
• fatty meat and broths;
• salo;
• marinades;
• spices;
• canned food;
• fish caviar;
• salty cheeses;
• cucumbers and cabbage;
• egg yolk;
• grape;
• all legumes;
• chocolate and all sweets;
• any pastries;
• strong tea and coffee;
• alcohol and carbonated drinks;
• butter, margarine;
• mayonnaise.

After this list, it seems that nutrition after a heart attack and stenting includes only prohibitions. However, there is a rather large list of allowed products for women and men:

• any cereals;
• pasta;
• low-fat dairy products;
• white meat (rabbit, turkey and chicken);
• seafood and lean fish;
• vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, turnips and beets);
• egg white;
• unsweetened fruits and berries (apricot, apple, melon, watermelon, raspberry, black currant and cherry);
• dried fruits;
• vegetable oil;
• compotes, green tea, freshly squeezed juices;
• honey.

The basic menu after the disease includes cereals on the water, low-fat soups, borscht, mashed fruits and vegetables, salads, meatballs, boiled meat and fish, as well as protein omelettes.

There are three stages of rehabilitation after an illness, in which it is necessary to strictly adhere to certain nutritional rules.

Acute period

At this stage, meals should be fractional. You need to eat only small portions, at least seven times a day. You can use dietary boiled veal (make sure that there are no veins in it), white chicken meat without skin. Very useful during this period are boiled cereals and vegetable soups, cooked in a low-fat broth and chopped with a blender. It is necessary to drink more herbal teas and decoctions, as well as one glass of natural carrot juice per day. Salt from the diet for this period is excluded completely.

Subacute stage of disease development

In the second period, the frequency of meals should be reduced to five times a day. Salt is also not allowed. You can also include whole foods on the menu. Approximately fifty percent of the total diet should be vegetables, fruits and cereals.

Scarring stage

Four weeks after a heart attack, meals can be reduced to four to five. You can already eat dried fruits, salads and lean fish (seafood). It is allowed to add no more than five grams of salt per day to cooked food. It is necessary to limit the amount of liquid you drink to one liter.

A sample menu for the day consists of five meals. For breakfast, you can cook rice porridge. It is advisable to add prunes or dried apricots to it, as well as honey. A glass of green tea will be a good addition to porridge. As a second breakfast, you can eat half a glass of fresh berries.

For lunch, prepare vegetable soup. On the second - pasta with seafood. Dessert may consist of fruit jelly and compote. For an afternoon snack, it is useful to treat yourself to a cottage cheese casserole with tea. The last meal should be light. You can boil or steam a piece of fish fillet and make a salad of vegetables in olive oil. In addition to dinner, drink a glass of fermented baked milk or yogurt.

It is not advisable to make a diet on your own, this should be done by a specialist. The doctor will advise exactly those products that strengthen the muscles of the heart and help increase the elasticity of blood vessels. This will prevent a recurrence of a heart attack.

A very important point in the rehabilitation process is physical activity. In addition to the diet after stenting and myocardial infarction, regular exercise such as cycling, swimming, jogging or brisk walking is essential. This will strengthen the heart and normalize blood pressure.

Principles of nutrition for women

For women, it is very important to exclude foods containing fats from the menu. The biggest health risk is trans fats. They predominate in margarine, convenience foods, pork, confectionery and chips. Any sweets should be completely excluded. Very useful products during this period are buckwheat and baked potatoes, tomatoes, red grapes, watermelons and melons.

The diet after a heart attack and stenting for women should include Jerusalem artichoke containing insulin (reduces the amount of sugar in the blood). Foods such as rabbit meat, garlic, onions and horseradish are very useful. After an illness, it is very useful for women to add avocados to their diet. It contains many useful compounds (iron, proteins, potassium, copper, phosphorus and folic acid), which effectively restore the efficiency of the heart, and also reduce sugar. Spinach has a similar effect.

Flaxseed oil can be used to make salads. It also has hypoglycemic properties. It is recommended to have breakfast with oatmeal with the addition of fruits, dried fruits or sunflower seeds.

In folk medicine, there are very good recipes to reduce sugar levels. For one of them, you need to add one teaspoon of cinnamon to a glass of kefir. Drink this drink once a day for two weeks. Cinnamon is loaded with fiber and magnesium, which act similarly to insulin, helping to lower blood sugar more quickly.

Traditional medicine includes a list of required products that contribute to a speedy recovery after a heart attack. These include carrot and beetroot juice, apples and cranberries, and honey. However, it is necessary to consume these products only in small doses so that they do not cause harm to health.  

There is a special diet designed only for women who have suffered a myocardial infarction, and it is called diet number ten. At the first stage of rehabilitation, it is allowed to consume products per day in the following proportion:

• bread - 50 g;
• vegetable soup - 150 g;
• boiled fish or poultry fillet - 50 g;
• omelet - 50 g;
• grated cottage cheese - 50 g.

In the period from the second to the fourth week, it is allowed:

• bread - 150 g;
• soup with cereals - 250 g;
• boiled meat or cutlets - 100 g;
• unsalted cheese - two slices;
• omelet - 50 g.

At the stage of scarring, bread can be eaten in an amount of 250 g, other requirements should remain the same as in the subacute stage of rehabilitation.

Nutrition for men

Men, just like women, need to have breakfast with cereals, which helps to saturate the body. It is advisable to replace vegetable oil with olive oil, as it contains a large amount of phytosterols. They, in turn, regulate the ratio of "harmful" and "useful" cholesterol.

Fish containing omega-3 fatty acids (sardines, herring, trout or salmon) are quite useful for eating. This substance has a beneficial effect on the muscles of the heart. However, it should be remembered that fish should only be steamed, boiled or baked. Its use in fried form is not recommended categorically.

It should be borne in mind that foods that contain a large amount of fat contribute to the growth of cholesterol plaques. In this regard, fats of animal origin are severely limited. Fat, as well as fatty meat and processed foods in a diet after a heart attack and stenting, exacerbate the symptoms of the disease. Refined carbohydrates should be excluded from the diet. Sugar, as well as sweets, can be replaced with dried fruits. Do not forget that carbohydrates are the building material for the reproduction of fats.

The menu after a heart attack and stenting includes eating berries every day. Lingonberries, cranberries, chokeberries and blueberries are very useful for men during the rehabilitation period. It is recommended to eat at least a small handful of these berries a day. They help to restore the health of the heart and lower cholesterol. Grapefruit, red grapes and apples have almost the same effect.

Mandatory in the diet of men is meat. It can be veal, rabbit, chicken or turkey. Meat products contain a large amount of minerals and proteins, which has a beneficial effect on the body as a whole.

It is also important to add walnuts to the diet. Of these, you can at home prepare a medicine to lower cholesterol. It is necessary to grind one hundred grams of nuts and add two tablespoons of natural honey. Divide this portion into three doses and eat throughout the day.                                                                  

Men and women who have undergone heart surgery should be aware that the established dietary rules after heart attack stenting should be maintained for the rest of their lives. The way of life changes completely, and new rules are established, which become the norm in the future. In addition to maintaining a diet and using medications, moderate exercise should always be present in the life of the patient.