Nutrition After a Heart Attack

Experiencing a heart attack is a scary, life-changing event. Once you are medically stable, it’s important to take a look at your lifestyle and make changes that will reduce your risk for future heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. Nutrition is one of the most important modifiable factors in the progression of heart disease. 

Often times when people think about nutrition and heart disease they focus on meat consumption. While reducing your intake of meats may be part of the picture, your heart health depends on much more than your red meat intake. Increasingly we have learned that not all saturated fats are created equal and that refined carbohydrates also play an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease. Excess weight, inflammation and poorly controlled diabetes are also major factors. It’s important to consider all of these as we assess the overall dietary pattern.

There is no single type of diet that you have to follow after a heart attack, but we know that eating patterns that emphasize fresh, whole foods, and minimize processed foods can improve risk factors for heart attack. Diets like the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet have been proven to benefit heart health, and they are both good options if you are someone who likes to follow a prescribed plan. Here are some simple things you can focus on to get started:

• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, filling half of your plate at each meal with these fresh foods (heavier emphasis on the veggies!)
• Incorporate beans and legumes, especially as a replacement for animal protein and/or processed starches like rice or pasta
• Eat nuts and seeds as a snack or incorporate them into salads. These foods are rich in healthy fats and provide protein. A little goes a long way. 
• Swap out meat for fish, like salmon, mackerel, trout, and sardines, at least twice a week. Fish is rich in healthy fats that can help protect your heart, plus, it cooks quickly, making it an easy weeknight staple. 
• Cook with healthy fats, like avocado oil, olive oil, and safflower oil rather than butter or lard. 
• Choose whole grains (100% whole wheat, quinoa, barley) or starchy vegetables (sweet potato, butternut squash, peas) as your carbohydrate sources.
• Watch out for refined carbohydrates, like cookies and cakes, packaged snack foods, and sweetened drinks.

Meeting with a dietitian after a heart attack is the best way to determine how to eat moving forward, and how to make changes that work for your life. Make an appointment with our Registered Dietitian today for a comprehensive assessment and plan.