How to supplement myocardial ischemia with food? In fact, it is not about "supplementing", but learning to "reduce"

A friend asked Huazi if myocardial ischemia can be treated with food supplements. Can eating more blood-enriching foods improve the problem of ischemia? Huazi said that myocardial ischemia is the premise of coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and other diseases, and it needs to be controlled in time to avoid worsening of the disease.

The treatment of myocardial ischemia should be based on drug therapy, supplemented by dietary adjustments to improve symptoms. However, the diet does not require "supplements" but learning how to "reduce".

1. Why does myocardial ischemia occur?

First of all, we need to clarify a concept: myocardial ischemia does not mean lack of blood in the body. Therefore, taking traditional blood-enriching foods such as red dates, pig blood, brown sugar, and red beans has no effect.

Myocardial ischemia refers to the occurrence of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart. The sclerotic plaques grow centripetally, causing narrowing of the arterial lumen and resulting in a decrease in the coronary artery's ability to supply blood to the heart.

When the degree of coronary artery stenosis is less than 50%, there are usually no obvious symptoms, which is called coronary atherosclerosis; when the degree of stenosis exceeds 50%, symptoms of angina pectoris such as chest tightness, chest pain, and shortness of breath are likely to occur, which is called coronary heart disease.

2. Mainly do "subtraction" in diet

Healthy arteries do not have atherosclerotic plaques, but under the influence of factors such as high blood pressure, high blood lipids, high blood sugar, and smoking, the arterial intima will be damaged, and the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the blood will enter the arterial intima through the damaged area to form plaques.

Once plaques are formed, with current medical technology, no drug can completely remove them. If drugs can't do it, you can't expect any dietary supplements to have an effect on plaques. However, unhealthy eating habits will significantly increase the progression of plaques and aggravate the condition, so the main thing to do in terms of diet is to learn to do "subtraction".

All foods that can aggravate the "three highs" should be eaten less or not eaten, and smoking should be strictly stopped.

A high-salt diet is the main cause of high blood pressure. People with myocardial ischemia should limit their salt intake to 3 to 5 grams per day.

A high-fat diet will increase cholesterol, so it is best not to eat fried foods, such as potato chips, French fries, fried dough sticks, fried chicken; cream-containing cakes, ice cream, desserts, and biscuits; hamburgers and pizza in Western fast food; and animal offal and animal oil. Vegetable oil can be used for cooking, and the daily intake should not exceed 25 grams.

The sugar in carbohydrate foods will be converted into fat if the body cannot use it up. So you should eat less refined rice and flour, avoid foods with added sugar, and avoid drinking sugary drinks.

3. Ensure nutritional balance

Many people ask Huazi, is it the healthiest to eat only vegetarian food? Huazi's answer is no, a healthy diet is not the same as a vegan diet. The human body needs to supplement with enough high-quality protein and vitamins to maintain normal physiological functions, and high-quality protein mainly comes from lean meat, fish, milk, eggs and beans. Animal protein and plant protein, each accounting for half, is a balanced combination.

It is recommended to eat a fist-sized amount of lean meat or fish every day; a handful of nuts; replace one-third of the staple food with beans and whole grains; a pound of vegetables; and half a pound of fruit.

Studies have shown that consuming more than 12 types of food every day and more than 25 types of food per week can maintain a balanced diet and prevent disease.

4. Adhere to medication and exercise

No matter how you control your diet, you can only affect 30% of the body's cholesterol at most, and the remaining 70% of cholesterol is produced by the body itself. Therefore, people with clear atherosclerosis and obvious symptoms of myocardial ischemia need to adhere to drug treatment on the basis of dietary control to control the "three highs" and keep the LDL-C level below 1.8mmol/L.

Exercise can also effectively reduce LDL-C. It is recommended to do moderate-intensity aerobic exercise 5 times a week for no less than 30 minutes each time, and strength training 2 times a week. However, people with symptoms of myocardial ischemia should exercise within their ability to avoid excessive fatigue that may induce angina pectoris.

To sum up, the essence of myocardial ischemia is atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, and arterial stenosis leads to reduced blood supply to the myocardium. Food supplements have no effect on myocardial ischemia. The main thing in diet is to learn to do "subtraction" and avoid eating foods that accelerate the progression of the disease. While controlling your diet, insisting on medication and exercise can help improve myocardial ischemia. Drugs must be used under the guidance of a doctor. If you have any questions about medication, please consult a doctor and pharmacist. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.