Food for heart health

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Earlier, the heart was considered the focus of life, thoughts and feelings. And although today we know that a person is alive as long as the brain is alive, this does not negate the importance of the heart for our life and health.

Try to rhythmically clench your fingers into a fist and unclench them once a second. After a few minutes, you may become tired and refuse to continue the exercise.

The heart muscle performs actions very similar to clenching and unclenching the fingers of the hand, but it does it continuously, without stopping, from birth to death, tirelessly, as long as health allows.

This ability of the myocardium, heart muscle, to work continuously and tirelessly is one of the most amazing facts related to the physiology of animals and humans.

However, the heart still rests. It does this in a short period between beats. Within a few tenths of a second, the myocardium relaxes and receives blood and nutrients through the coronary arteries.

Angina pectoris

Definition

Angina is due to spasms or reversible narrowing of the coronary arteries. These arteries are responsible for providing blood flow to the heart muscle for heartbeat.

Angina pectoris manifests itself as intense pressing pain in the left side of the chest, radiating to the left arm. It usually occurs after some physical effort, intense emotion, or a stressful situation. Unlike a heart attack, angina is reversible and usually does not cause long-term damage to the heart.

Diet and risk factors

Diet has a great impact on the condition and function of the coronary arteries.

Risk factors for angina pectoris:

• Arteriosclerosis (narrowing and hardening) of the coronary arteries. A diet low in plant foods and high in saturated fat is a common cause of arteriosclerosis. Other reasons are smoking and lack of exercise.
• A tendency to spasms, or contractions, of smooth muscle tissue (involuntary musculature). This definition includes the musculature that forms the walls of the arteries. Deficiencies in magnesium and other nutrients trigger these cramps.

Increase	Reduce or eliminate
Grape	Saturated fat
Walnut	Sodium
Onion
Whole grains
Barley and rye
Potato
Peach
Strawberry
Pumpkin
Zucchini
Cashew
Mango

»

Myocardial infarction

Definition

A disease characterized by complete blockage of a coronary artery or one of its branches. It causes irreversible damage to the heart muscle, causing necrosis, that is, the death of heart tissue.

Causes

Blockage of a coronary artery is caused by a combination of the following processes:

• Arteriosclerosis, progressive narrowing and hardening of an artery.
• Thrombosis, the formation of a blood clot, a blood clot inside a narrowed artery that completely blocks the blood flow.

Diet

In the case of a heart attack, proper diet is very important for two reasons:

• Certain foods prevent an attack, while others, on the contrary, provoke it.
• Eating the right diet after a heart attack can make a difference in rehabilitation and prevention of new crises.

Increase	Reduce or eliminate
Fruits	Meat
Legumes	Iron
Vegetables	Saturated fat
Grape	Cholesterol
Walnut	Sausages and sausages
Soy	Ham
Chickpea	Trans fatty acids
Green pea	Margarine
Artichoke	Butter
Strawberry	Fried foods
Pumpkin	Milk
Peach	Dairy products
Mango	Alcohol
Macadamia	White sugar
Potato	Sodium
Wheat bran
Olive oil
A fish
Antioxidants
Vitamin A
Flavonoids
Coenzyme Q10
Alimentary fiber

»

Arrhythmia

Definition

This is a violation of the heart rhythm, which is most often expressed in a rapid heartbeat. If the disorder is significant, it can reduce the heart's ability to efficiently pump blood through the tissues of the body, leading to heart failure and, in some cases, cardiac arrest.

Causes

The causes of arrhythmias are varied and not always obvious. However, there are several factors that contribute to arrhythmias:

• Diet. Certain nutrients help prevent illness, while others trigger it.
• Food allergy. It can cause arrhythmias, as toxic substances are released as a result of an allergic reaction.
• Toxins. Alcoholic drinks, coffee and tobacco can cause more or less serious arrhythmias.
• Hormonal factors. Overactive thyroid function.

Increase	Reduce or eliminate
Calcium	Stimulating drinks
Magnesium	Alcoholic drinks
Potassium	Saturated fat
Vegetable oils
Coenzyme Q10

»

Heart failure

Definition

This disease is the result of the inability of the heart to pump the required volume of blood.

Causes

Among the causes leading to heart failure, there are those that are associated with diet:

• Lack of nutrients necessary for the proper functioning of the heart, such as vitamin B1 and a number of minerals (calcium, magnesium and especially potassium).
• Excess fluid in the body due to excess sodium, salt intake, or poor kidney function. The factor leads to an increase in blood volume, which increases the burden on the heart.

Treatment

Treating heart failure requires a diet that nourishes and stimulates the heart muscle. You also need to reduce your salt (sodium) intake. In cases of low urine volume, diuretic products are recommended.

Increase	Reduce or eliminate
Walnut	Salt
Cherimoya	Alcoholic drinks
Green pea
Broccoli
Cherry
Grapefruit
Coenzyme Q10

»

Wine and heart

Is wine good for the heart?

Some doctors, citing a number of studies, claim that drinking 100-200 ml of red wine (not white) per day reduces the risk of dying from a heart attack. This effect appears to only affect men over the age of 50.

The same studies show that if this dose is exceeded (200 ml = 1 glass of wine = 20 g of pure alcohol), mortality from cardiovascular diseases increases, and many other diseases can also occur.

But not everything is as they are trying to present. The beneficial effects attributed to the reddest wine are actually due to the phenolic flavonoids found in grapes and their skins. These substances give red wine its color. They interfere with the oxidation of lipoproteins, thereby preventing the formation of a precipitate of cholesterol inside the arteries - arteriosclerosis. Fruits in general and grapes in particular are the best sources of flavonoids.

In other words, wine owes its health benefits to grapes. Eating grapes itself or drinking grape juice is much more beneficial for the health of the heart and the whole body than drinking wine.

What to eat after a heart attack

After a heart attack, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is especially recommended. Their antioxidant effect inhibits necrosis (cell death) in the heart muscle.

Arteriosclerosis, which is the cause of a heart attack, can also be reversible. A study in California, USA, shows that after a year of a heart-healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle, there is a 10 percent decline in stenosis (narrowing) of the coronary arteries.

Based on the book "Healthy Food"