Reviewed by: Jing Zhicheng (Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)
Author: Zhang Haihua (Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)
Current treatments do not yet cure cardiomyopathy, and once diagnosed, it may be accompanied for life. Therefore, it is very important to learn to manage daily life well and to learn to "coexist peacefully" with diseases. The management of daily life involves all aspects of food, clothing, shelter and transportation. This article focuses on the diet of patients with cardiomyopathy.
1. Advisable: "Eating" wisely is good for health
The diet of people with cardiomyopathy is generally light, including a variety of fruits, vegetables and cereals.
Healthy recipes for cardiomyopathy should choose foods that are low in saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol. It is best to choose lean meat, peeled chicken, duck and goose meat, fish, legumes, low-fat or skim milk or dairy products.
It is advisable to choose foods and beverages with low sugar content.
Eating calories is finally the same as the amount consumed, so that you can maintain a healthy weight.
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2. Avoid: Improper diet, life-threatening restriction of water intake as appropriate
Will eating a watermelon kill you? Yes! This is by no means sensational. For patients with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, if you do not pay attention to limiting the intake of water, half a large watermelon is likely to become the "last straw to crush the camel". In the summer, patients tend to drink large amounts of water due to hot weather, which can lead to an acute exacerbation of heart failure.
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For patients with cardiomyopathy who have heart failure, doctors generally recommend that the daily fluid intake should not exceed 1500 ml, and in the summer, the hot weather sweats more, but also not more than 3000 ml. For severe heart failure, especially in patients with decreased renal function, fluid intake should be limited to about 1000 ml due to reduced drainage.
How much fluid to ingest, but also to refer to the amount of urine, in the summer, but also to consider the loss of water from sweating, that is to say, it should be "measured in and out", if the amount of urine is small, the intake of liquid should also be appropriately reduced; if you sweat a lot, you must appropriately increase the water supplement. Of course, this is only a general principle, specific to everyone may have some differences, be sure to consult a doctor.
Sometimes, doctors may ask patients to record their fluid intake, or they can measure it by measuring their weight every morning. If you find that the weight gain in the short term is significant, then you should be vigilant, indicating that excessive water intake has caused retention. At this time, on the one hand, it is necessary to limit water intake more strictly, and on the other hand, diuretic therapy may be strengthened.
When calculating the amount of liquid, it should be noted that in addition to the water directly drunk, other "water", such as the amount of water in porridge or vegetable soup, should also be counted, which are the amount of liquid.
In patients with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, in addition to "limiting water", the way of drinking water is also exquisite. Doctors recommend "a small number of times", do not drink a lot of water at a time, you can drink a few small sips at intervals.
3. Limit sodium salts
To prevent the onset of heart failure, it is equally important to limit sodium intake. Medical studies have shown that if the body retains 7 grams of sodium chloride (the main component of table salt), it is necessary to retain 1000 ml of water to maintain the balance of osmotic pressure in the body. In other words, water and sodium are not divided into families, too much sodium, water must be more, which increases the burden of blood circulation, which is not conducive to the control of heart failure.
Doctors often say to adopt a low-sodium diet. The so-called low-sodium diet means that the daily salt intake should not exceed 2 grams. Therefore, if the patient is "heavy in mouth" and likes to eat salty, it must be corrected.
However, nothing is absolute, if after strengthening diuretic treatment, sodium, potassium and other electrolytes will also be lost, coupled with heart failure when the appetite is not good, the amount of diet is small, prone to hyponatremia, at this time it is necessary to supplement salt appropriately. In short, under the guidance of a doctor, appropriate flexibility should be made to maintain the balance of water and sodium in the body.
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In addition, alcohol should be abstained and alcoholic beverages should be abstained. Strong tea or espresso has a cardiovascular irritating effect, and it is best not to drink it.
*The content of this article is a popularization of health knowledge and cannot be used as a specific diagnosis and treatment recommendation, nor is it a substitute for face-to-face consultation by a practicing physician, for reference only.
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