Eating Right After Heart Surgery

If you are going in for heart surgery, chances are you've spoken to your doctor about the preparations you must take before the procedure and how to handle your recovery. One aspect of recovery that will be particularly important is your nutrition. To live a healthy life you need to be eating the right foods and heart healthy meals.

There are two phases of recovery diets after heart surgery. This first phase of nutrition is the acute phase. During this time you will not feel very hungry but it will be important to feed your body the nutrition it needs to heal and recovery properly. You doctor will encourage you to eat small and frequent meals until you regain your normal appetite. This diet may be designed by a specialist to ensure that you're getting what you need. Normally, this phase happens immediately after surgery while you are still in the hospital.

The second phase is the long-term phase. This is a life long commitment to eating right and making healthy food choices to prevent damage to the heart and arteries. It doesn't matter if you are in for heart surgery after or to prevent a heart attack or if you have a congenital disease, general health nutrition is beneficial to all. However, it is particularly important for the long-term recovery and care of the heart after surgery.

Your new diet should be based on a low fat and cholesterol diet. It is recommended that you eat less meat and more vegetables because meats, cheeses, and eggs are a source of saturated fat and cholesterol. However, products like skim milk, fish, and skinless poultry are all great choices. It will be important to also have lots or fruits, vegetables, and grains, specifically whole grains. This will supply your daily need for heart healthy vitamins and minerals as well as fibers to cleanse the system.

Avoid sugars and salt. Although these enhance or create flavors in many of you favorite foods, they can also put strain on the heart. Sugars tend to build up in the body and create fat. Excess fat will put excess strain on your heart after surgery. Salt, or products with a lot of sodium, are also very unhealthy in large quantities. It negatively affects blood pressure, again, putting strain on the heart.

In addition to nutrition, it will also be important to maintain a healthy weight through exercise. Diet alone can help you maintain a healthy weight but it will be important to speak with your doctor about ways to exercise as well after heart surgery. Not only will your muscles and joints get the exercise they need to but your heart as an organ and a muscle will get a workout too. This makes it both imperative to exercise but also requires low impact workouts such as walking, yoga, or Pilate's. Talk to your doctor about what to eat and how to go about developing a healthy lifestyle to keep you heart and body healthy after surgery.