The importance of controlled and healthy eating habits in protecting heart health is undeniable. With proper eating habits, a person can easily prevent heart disease. What kind of food should and should not be eaten to keep the heart healthy and strong is discussed in detail in the third episode of the special program organized on the occasion of World Heart Day, Fortune dedicated to 'Win with the heart'. This time the topic: heart disease and diet.
Dr. Chief nutritionist of Evercare Hospital Tamanna Chowdhury was the guest of honor at the function conducted by Faiza Rahla. The show aired live on Prothom Alo's Facebook page and YouTube channel on September 30.
At the beginning, Tamanna Chowdhury discussed the awareness of the people of our country on the prevention and treatment of heart disease. In Bangladesh, the number of people on a 'diet' has increased due to overweight, diabetes and heart disease. That's why so many people are now turning to nutritionists to learn about proper eating habits.
There was a time when doctors used to prescribe for heart patients that fatty foods and beef should not be eaten. It's just that they can't be good without eating a few foods, but that's not the point. Nutrition is the biggest challenge for a patient after a myocardial infarction or heart attack. In order to prevent malnutrition problems, to keep other organs healthy, to control diabetes and to prevent another heart attack or any other heart disease in the future, a patient has to stay in a diet. With that the whole life has to change.
Therefore, a patient has to undergo cardiac rehabilitation after having a heart attack. During this rehabilitation, special care is taken to ensure proper diet, exercise and physiotherapy, medication and counseling to keep the patient in good mental health. For this reason, many heart patients are now going to nutritionists in the interest of themselves or their family members and on the advice of a doctor.
The diet of all heart patients is not the same. This diet depends on the patient's weight, BMI, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, age, gender, eating habits (carnivorous or vegetarian), ability to chew food. The expert said that the diet plan has to be fixed by evaluating all these.
Diet as well as counseling play a very important role for heart patients. When someone in a house has a heart attack, the mindset of everyone in that house changes. They are all terrified. For this, the nutritionist has to counsel not only the patient, but all the members of his family.
The number of heart patients visiting nutritionists in Bangladesh to learn about proper eating habits and lifestyle has increased a lot. But there are many patients who rely only on a doctor's prescription for eating habits. Certain foods like red meat, egg yolks, salt cannot be eaten there. Many patients are suffering from other diseases due to this.
As many patients are deficient in vitamin D or zinc, their immunity is low. If they stop eating eggs and milk, the loss is more than the profit. Osteoporosis is seen in many elderly patients who stop breastfeeding. Again, many patients are forbidden to eat salt by doctors. But the body also needs salt. Lack of it lowers the level of sodium in the blood. As a result, the patient suffers from a complex disease called hyponatremia. And this disease is more common in heart patients. Eating a certain amount of salt without stopping it should not be a problem for the heart patient. How much salt can be consumed in cooking can be determined by a nutritionist by looking at the patient's electrolyte report.
The program also discusses a patient's eating habits after heart surgery. The next six weeks of heart surgery are considered the 'sensitive period'. At this time the food system is different from other times due to reasonable reasons. At this time soft and easily digestible food is eaten.
Such as soft throat rice, soft bread. Talking about soft bread, the expert warned against eating bread. Many people think that since the bread is soft, it can be eaten. At this time the patient can not be given bakery food in any way. The eating habits of this time also depend on the weight, blood pressure of the patient like other times, said the expert. For example, with 20 to 25 times the number of kilocalories per kilogram of weight, the patient is given a diet chart of that amount of food. After six weeks the patient will be able to eat food with normal texture.
And when the patient starts going out, the level of kilocalories in the food is increased. At this time you are asked to eat a total of six meals a day. Dinner should be finished between eight and eight-thirty. Low fat milk should be consumed before going to bed at night. In addition, three ‘mid meals’ were asked with breakfast and lunch. At this time it is recommended for heart patients to eat light fruits, sour curd, green tea etc.
It was further learned from nutritionist Tamanna Chowdhury that the diet of heart patients differs only in weight as well as in men and women. However, since most of the women in our country suffer from anemia, diet charts are made keeping in mind the iron hemoglobin and occupation of young women. Calorie sizes are lower in women than in men. However, the amount of protein, calcium or other minerals in both men and women is determined by weight. Again there are some foods that are the same for everyone. Such as the amount of salt or oil in the food.
Hereditary causes also cause heart disease. However, it is possible to prevent. If a family member has a history of having a heart attack, other family members need to be careful about their eating habits. This is not only for adults, but also for children. If one eats more vegetables, fruits, fish, avoiding raw salt, fast food, outside tea-coffee, carbonated beverages, extra fatty foods from an early age, then there is no risk of heart disease. For this reason, experts have said that it is important to develop heart-friendly eating habits from an early age.