needing some help here re: heart healthy / low sodium

My husband recently had a triple bypass. They sent him home without diet restrictions, saying "just eat, you need to heal." A month later we've been back to the hospital twice with post-surgical complications, and he's now on diuretics. We've gotten all kinds of mixed advice by our medical professionals, from "just do what you've been doing" to "low sodium diet" or "eat heart healthy" without a lot of real concrete guidance. We've met with two different dieticians in two different hospitals. One was fairly helpful, advising us to shop the periphery of the store and focus on whole foods rather than processed/convenience foods. The other admitted that we were her first cardiac consultation, and advised us to avoid anything trans-fat, hydrogenated, or added sugars. So now I'm trying to educate myself, using information online from the American Heart Association as a guide. https://www.heart.org/-/media/AHA/H4GM/PDF-Files/ChangeSaltyWays_InfoG_Nov2014.pdf

I would very much welcome support and feedback from folks in the trenches who have been where we are, and mastered the change to heart-healthy, low-sodium, cardiac diet, or whatever terms are being used. Thanks in advance!

P.S. positive vibes to all the vegans and vegetarians out there, but this girl is very much a carnivore, and unlikely to change that anytime soon.

Replies

FibroHiker

I haven't been where you are, but there is a way of eating that will lower your husband's blood pressure. It's the paleo diet.

I did paleo in my early 40s and during that time when I visited my MD my blood pressure was always very low. One time the nurse measured it at 98/54 and asked me if I was taking medication for my blood pressure. I wasn't. I've never had a blood pressure problem or taken medication for that. The diet naturally lowers pressure due to the types of foods that are no longer being consumed. It is a healthier diet overall and a lot of people who are type 2 diabetic report good results on it. When my father was diagnosed type 2 diabetic, the diet he was put on was very similar to the paleo diet.

It's worth looking into for your husband. The only caveat is that he may have very low
energy. I had to give up the diet for that reason. But in your case you are in a life and death situation, so having to take a couple naps or rests throughout the day isn't such a bad trade off when he can maintain life.

StillRockin4ever

Are either of you still active in MFP?

yakkystuff

Am... food can be challenging, but helps, so worth tackling. Making broth today to use for the week.

ngagne

Coming from what I would assume is a 'normal' American Diet- the easiest to follow is suppose to be a DASH diet. It's lower sodium and tends to be more plant-forward (although it definitely still incorporates animal meats and products) and also still has some non-Whole Foods, minimized and in moderation. Essentially, it's just more a 'user friendly' version of a Whole Foods, Plant Based diet - which is the healthiest for cardiac patients (or anyone). But anything DASH, Mediterranean, or Whole Foods (whether that be Plant Based or inclusive of animal meat - paleo, primal are both Whole Foods diets) is generally a significant improvement and will show good results when switching to (assuming coming from a 'normal' american/western diet). Get a membership to your local library and check out some cookbooks for inspiration - anything titled DASH, Mediterranean, Paleo, Primal, and Whole Foods will be a good improvement to heart healthy eating. Vegetarian & Vegan can also be, but only if you stay away from processed cheese and pre-made, processed meat replacements. IMO, if you have a sweet tooth, Whole Food Plant Based brownies made with Whole wheat flour, Avocado, and more (uses pure maple syrup or honey for sweetness) is even better than 'normal' bakery. Staying away from processed things (high in sodium) and refined sugars/carbs (like white bread, cookies, etc…) is really the key. And those aforementioned diets do an excellent job generally of encouraging eating plants (the most necessary thing for health) while cutting out or greatly minimizing sugar, oil, excess fat, and salt (through not using processed foods in the recipes).

StillRockin4ever

Thanks, I checked out the DASH diet and it looks doable for me. Now I have a direction to go in in my quest to lower my sodium.

Should I start a new "Low Sodium" group or thread or try to use this post to start a low sodium heart healthy thread with this one? I don't think I can do it alone.