Heart Attack – Top Health Today

A heart attack can be a hard thing to go through. A first attack might not be too severe in most cases. The people who recover from a heart attack can live a normal life. Well, there are a few little tweaks to be done to the lifestyle and the diet, though.

Why should you change your diet after a heart attack?

A heart attack occurs when a section of the artery that carries blood to the heart is blocked. This block prevents the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. This means that a section of the muscles in the heart are deprived of oxygen. These muscles start dying out in case the block isn’t treated in the initial stages. That is why the heart becomes sensitive after a heart attack.

Cholesterol is primarily one of the substances that form a plaque in the coronary artery. When the plaque ruptures, there is a blood clot formed at that place. This clot is what blocks the artery when it is a big one.

The excess cholesterol comes from the diet. This is primarily the reason why one is advised to revise once diet strictly, after a heart attack. Changing your diet can avoid the occurrence of a second attack.

What to eat after recovery from a heart attack?

The first thing to change after recovering from a heart attack is to plan a healthy diet. The diet should be healthy and free of bad fats. Unsaturated fats and fatty acids are healthy fats that can be included in the diet to regulate the normal health of the heart. Saturated fats and trans fats are the ones that should be avoided. Here are a few things to do after a heart attack:

Include more of fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet
Eat food which is preferably steamed, baked or poached.
Include fish and protein rich food items in your diet.
Consume a diet that has a healthy mix of whole grains, seeds, and nuts.
Include foods that are rich in good carbs and fiber.
Drink enough water.

What not to eat?

The idea here is to cut down any food that is rich in bad fats. These are the foods that increase the blood cholesterol levels:

Meat
Fried food items.
Food that has trans fats.
Processed food.
Junk food.
Packaged food.
Sodas and carbonated drinks that are rich in sweeteners.

Things to do besides changing the diet:

Besides devising a healthy diet plan, have a healthy lifestyle, on the whole, to avoid risking another attack. Stop smoking and the consumption of alcohol. Focus on attaining a healthy weight. Higher BMI values increase the chances of excess fats and cholesterol in the body.

Treat diabetes, thyroid disorders or any other ailments that can increase the severity of heart damage. Reduce stress and hypertension. Focus on following a regular fitness regime. Making an overall change in the lifestyle and habits is essential to avoid a second attack. The heart muscles are already weak after the first heart attack. That is exactly why another attack can be riskier.

Generally a heart attack is caused by a blood coagulation which hinders a coronary artery, that conveys blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. When blood cannot reach the heart it becomes starved of oxygen. In the event that the blockage proceeds sufficiently long, cells start to die off.

Coronary artery disease is the most widely recognized reason for this condition. Coronary artery disease is the solidifying and narrowing of the coronary arteries caused by the development of plaque inside the artery walls. After some time, plaque development can

Constrict the arteries so that less blood streams to the heart muscle
Totally Block arteries from blood stream
Cause Blood clumps which clot and block the arteries.

Attacks can also happen because of issues with capillaries, the very small microscopic veins in the body. This condition is called microvascular disease, which can be characterized by the tiny arteries being damaged.

A less normal cause of heart attacks is an extreme spasm or narrowing of the coronary artery, which causes a lack of blood flow to the heart. These spasms can happen in individuals with or without coronary artery diseases. Artery Spasms can at times be brought on by to much stress, smoking, or taking certain highly stimulating drugs.

There are certain factors that can make you more at risk for a heart attack, unfortunately a few of these factors are things you can not change. People who are more at risk maybe men over 45 or women over the age of 55. If you or your a member of your family has had a history of heart disease before the age of 55 for men or before the age of 65 for women you may also be at risk.

If you are obese, smoke, have high cholesterol, high blood sugar, eat a poor diet, and only get a little bit of physical activity you are more at risk for a heart attacks than other people. Luckily these are factors you can change.

You can greatly reduce these risks by

Quit Smoking
Eat a better Diet, and exclude foods enriched with saturated and trans fat.
Include more physical activity in your life
Lower your blood Cholesterol
Reduce sodium in your Diet

Getting treatment for related illnesses can avoid what causes heart attacks turn out to be more probable.

If you have elevated cholesterol, take after your specialist's recommendation about bringing down it. Take cholesterol-bringing down solutions as coordinated.

If you have hypertension, take after your specialist's recommendation to hold it under control. Take circulatory strain solutions consistently.

If you have diabetes, infrequently called glucose, take after your specialist's recommendation about keeping up levels of glucose under control. Take your medications as coordinated.

Recognizing what causes heart attacks is essential in preventing heart disease, and vital to know so that you can maintain optimum heart health. If you would like to reduce your risk for heart attacks start by changing you diet to one with whole foods and add light physical exercises into your daily routine.