Nutrition after heart surgery

Any surgical intervention on the heart is considered one of the most difficult operations with a difficult rehabilitation period. Properly organized diet is a prerequisite for the recovery of the body after surgery. After all, the use of prohibited foods can again increase the risk of heart disease. And following the recommendations of a doctor on therapeutic nutrition for life will help strengthen the heart muscle, and will be a wonderful prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

It is quite difficult to drastically change your entire diet after heart surgery. Some foods will have to be completely excluded, some should be limited, be sure to introduce fresh vegetables and fruits into the diet. But you need to start the diet with the general principles of nutrition.

General principles of nutrition after heart surgery

1. Moderation of nutrition - you need to eat exactly as much as is required at the moment for life. Do not overload the body, do not allow it to "store reserves." Being overweight is a serious burden on the heart.
2. Fractional nutrition - you need to eat 5-6 times a day in small portions. Light snacks with fresh vegetables, fruits and dried fruits are allowed. Long breaks between meals and overeating should be avoided.
3. The optimal breakfast time is 30 minutes after waking up, but no later than 2 hours later. The last meal should be 2 hours before bedtime.
4. Strict control of sugar and salt intake. Sweet pastries should be excluded from the diet altogether; you can eat dried fruits as a sweet. Salt abuse can lead to high blood pressure. Table salt is better to replace sea salt, it contains iodine, which is good for the heart. Or control the amount of table salt - up to 6 grams per day.

Calorie intake in the postoperative period

The key point of the diet after heart surgery is to reduce the calorie intake to 2500 kcal per day. Proteins should make up 50% of the diet (half of them vegetable proteins), 40% fats (vegetable only) and only 10% carbohydrates. Reduce the amount of liquid to 1.5 liters per day, not counting first courses and dairy products.

        Protein should be sought in fish and seafood, low-fat dairy products. Particular attention should be paid to white fish - omul, flounder, cod, hake. It contains fatty acids that lower blood cholesterol levels. Eliminate pork and goose meat completely. Beef can only be consumed lean, white chicken and turkey meat, rabbit meat are recommended.

        You can not eat animal fats, because. they contain cholesterol, and tend to be deposited "in reserve". They must be completely replaced with vegetable unrefined cold-pressed oils - sunflower, olive, corn.

        For the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system, foods containing complex carbohydrates are useful - rye bread, buckwheat, beans, pearl barley. Simple carbohydrates (sweets) do not bring any benefit to the body. Their abuse can lead to overweight, so it is better to exclude them in the postoperative period.

 Recommended daily menu

     An ideal breakfast would be a bowl of porridge with vegetable oil or porridge cooked in skim milk. Breakfast can be supplemented with one slice of bread and a cup of unsweetened tea. Fresh white bread is replaced with wholemeal bakery products, with the addition of bran or rye bread. This bread contains a lot of fiber useful for the work of the heart muscle.

        As for cereals, semolina and rice will have to be excluded, as they contain a large amount of starch. Pearl barley, buckwheat, barley and oatmeal are the richest in fiber and macronutrients. Due to the cholesterol content in butter, it should be replaced with unrefined vegetable oils. The leader in the content of nutrients is extra virgin olive oil.

        The second breakfast may consist of fermented milk products, a cup of rosehip broth or unsweetened cocoa with sandwiches, a light vegetable and meat casserole. Dairy products can be eaten only fat-free. Cheese and cheese with a fat content of up to 20%, kefir and acidophilus with a fat content of up to 1%, fat-free cottage cheese. It is better to refuse sour cream. Sandwiches can be made from bran bread with boiled chicken, turkey or fat-free cheese. Vegetable casserole with pieces of meat fillet is prepared without eggs or only with proteins (yolks contain cholesterol). It is best to cook it in a slow cooker for a couple, but you can also cook it in the oven under foil.

       Here's what you can eat after heart surgery in unlimited quantities, so it's fruits and vegetables in any form. After all, they are very rich in fiber and vitamins. Vegetables can be consumed simply raw in salads, cook vegetable soups, stews, casseroles. From fruits, special attention should be paid to apricots, peaches, apples, bananas and persimmons. They contain a lot of dietary fiber and pectin. Dried fruits are suitable as a dessert. Vegetables and fruits make great snacks.

        For lunch, you can cook vegetable soup, durum wheat pasta, stewed vegetables, boiled fillet or stewed fish. If you cook soup with meat, then the meat broth should be secondary. Fish should have a special place in the diet. White fish contains substances that lower cholesterol levels. Fatty varieties of ocean fish contain unsaturated omega-3 acids, which have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart. These are tuna, chum salmon, flounder, herring, mackerel, capelin, but of course you should not abuse oily fish.  

        For an afternoon snack, you can treat yourself to sweet dried fruits or a fruit salad with chopped nuts. Any nuts can be used. Only peanuts and pine nuts should be treated with caution - in some cases they may contain toxic substances and cause allergies.

        You can have dinner no later than 2 hours before bedtime. The last meal should be light. It can be either steamed vegetables, or 100 grams of fat-free cottage cheese, or a glass of kefir with a slice of bran bread.

        Foods that worsen heart function:

• sausage, sausages, ham, sausages, any industrial semi-finished products - contain a lot of salt and animal fat;
• fatty hard cheeses and fatty dairy products;
• alcohol;
• carbonated drinks;
• pork, beef, duck, lamb, lard. It is allowed to use lean beef once a week, from which absolutely all fat is cut;
• any fried and smoked foods. Meat, fish and vegetables are recommended to be boiled, stewed, baked or steamed;
• delicious pastries and sweets. It is allowed to use low-fat sweets (marmalade, jam, lollipops), but not more than 30 grams per day;
• any meat offal - liver, lungs, brains, kidneys, heart, tongue;
• rice, semolina and pasta made from premium flour;
• egg yolk.

What can you eat after heart surgery

Most of the postoperative patient's diet should be vegetables, fruits, steam white fish and low-fat yogurt. But there are certain foods that have an extremely beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. They will significantly speed up the healing process, and regular use will be a good prevention of heart disease.

TOP 5 heart-healthy foods

1. Seafood - fatty fish, shrimp, mussels and squid. Regular consumption of seafood reduces the risk of heart attack by 35%.
2. Persimmon - contains pectin, antioxidants, a lot of vitamins, micro and macro elements. Prevention of atherosclerosis. Due to the high glucose content, you can consume no more than 100 grams per day.
3. Nuts - contain polyunsaturated fatty acids Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Prevention of atherosclerosis.

4. Garlic - hydrogen sulfide contained in garlic makes blood vessels elastic, and the antioxidant allicin protects the walls of blood vessels from damage.
5. Tomatoes contain the antioxidant lycopene, which strengthens the heart muscle.

    Strict adherence to the diet will help to quickly restore the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Patients who have undergone heart surgery should adhere to this diet on an ongoing basis. This will not only be a good prevention of heart disease, but also significantly strengthen the immune system and increase overall vitality.