Tips for a Heart-Healthy Diet After Angioplasty
Treatment for a heart attack can differ from person to person, and sometimes depends on how quickly the heart attack is treated.
An angioplasty is a common procedure for treatment of a heart attack that involves the insertion of a balloon into a blocked artery around the heart. During this procedure your doctor may insert a stent to help keep the artery open as well.
The angioplasty procedure is often times done to reduce the likelihood of this same artery becoming blocked again. This procedure can also limit chest pain, which may have resulted from the blocked artery.
Angioplasty procedures are typically done in a hospital setting. Following the angioplasty you’ll need to be monitored for complications following the procedure. Common occurrences following an angioplasty include bruising and minor bleeding at the sheath insertion site (usual insertion sites include wrist, arm, or groin area) and some bleeding where the stents were inserted. More serious complications are not common but include heavy bleeding, blood clots, and injury to the heart muscle.
For many people, undergoing angioplasty to open a blocked artery can be a major wake-up call to improve their heart health. Your doctor may tell you that your diet needs some adjustments to reduce the chances of another blocked artery. If that's you, now’s the time to change your lifestyle, and focusing on a heart-healthy diet should be a priority.
Eating specific heart-healthy foods can help by reducing your cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure, and getting or keeping your body weight within a healthy range. Essentially, a heart-healthy diet focuses on lowering salt intake and unhealthy fats by boosting the amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains you consume.
One popular diet, the DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet encourages the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods, while recommending limited intake of sweets and sodium. The DASH diet has been shown to have significant benefits on cardiovascular health.
A review published in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases examined the effects of the DASH diet on metabolic disease risk factors. The review concluded that the DASH diet can influence weight loss, reduce waist circumference, and can lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels. The review included 54 clinical trials, with the majority of the studies including both male and female adults.
Another popular diet is the Mediterranean diet. This diet option takes a plant-based approach and emphasizes the use of virgin olive oil, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. The diet may also include wine, but in moderation.
According to MedlinePlus, this diet may stabilize blood sugar levels and lower your body’s levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. This diet may also lower risk of heart disease.
These diets, and others, may not be the perfect fit for everyone. You should consult with your doctor about the specific foods you eat regularly to help determine what you should cut back on and what you may not be getting enough of in your diet.
As you recover from angioplasty, consider adding these foods to your daily meal plans:
Whole Grains “All whole grains are good, but barley and oats have something special — a fiber called beta-glucan,” says Jill Weisenberger, RDN, CDE, a dietitian and the author of Prediabetes: A Complete Guide, Second Edition. “This fiber sops up cholesterol from your digestive tract, preventing it from reaching your bloodstream.” Other good choices are buckwheat, bulgur, whole wheat, and millet.
Fruits and Vegetables “Fresh fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of potassium, which can lessen the effects of sodium and help lower blood pressure,” Weisenberger says. “Berries in particular are heart-healthy.” Pears and apples may help reduce stroke risk. Bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and leafy green vegetables are all great sources of vitamins and carotenoids, a type of antioxidant, to boost overall health.
Cranberries are another good choice because they help reduce inflammation and increase dilation of blood vessels. “Try to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal and snack,” Weisenberger says.
Healthy Fats Not all fats are bad. Just choose “healthy” unsaturated fats and limit how much fat you eat overall, because all fats contain a lot of calories. Fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids — such as lake trout, mackerel, herring, salmon, sardines, and albacore tuna — are great choices, Weisenberger says. “These fats may reduce the risk of abnormal heartbeats and decrease blood clots from forming.”
Olive and canola oils are also a good source of healthy fats and a great replacement for butter. “When some of the saturated fats — butter, lard, and bacon grease, for example — in the diet are replaced with unsaturated fats, cholesterol levels improve,” she says.
Nuts, Beans, and Seeds There’s no doubt that beans are good for your heart. “They’re linked to lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart attack,” Weisenberger says, who recommends eating at least four servings of beans each week. Walnuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds are also important for heart health. “When you eat these foods regularly, you’ll likely reduce your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol,” she says.
Dark Chocolate When you want something sweet, opt for a nibble of dark chocolate. Rich in flavonoids — another type of antioxidant — dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation.
Fresh-Brewed Tea When you want to sip on something soothing, turn to tea. Flavonoid-rich tea may help lower the risk for heart attack and stroke and lower blood pressure, Weisenberger says — just skip bottled tea and brew your own because bottled varieties have few, if any, flavonoids.
One review published in Annals of Medicine investigated the link between consumption of tea and cardiovascular disease risk. The study examined 23 systematic reviews. The authors report that daily intake of unsweet tea may reduce both the risk of death related to cardiovascular events and the likelihood of a cardiovascular-related event occurring. They suggest this is due to the flavonoid content in the tea.
Don't cancel out all of your good work with unhealthy food selections. Here are the top foods to reduce your consumption of and why:
Processed Meats This includes hot dogs and deli meats. They're packed with sodium, nitrates, and other preservatives that can harm your heart.
Saturated Fats and Trans Fats Watch for saturated fats in butter, cream, cheese, fatty red meat, and poultry skin. Trans fats can be found in fried and packaged foods — they contribute to high levels of unhealthy cholesterol.
The American Heart Association recommends saturated fats should be about 5 to 6 percent of one’s daily calorie intake. In a 2000 calorie diet, that’s about 120 calories or 13 grams of saturated fat. The AHA recommends choosing lean meats and poultry and consuming them without the skin.
Refined and Processed Grains Think white bread and white rice. Processing removes much of the healthy parts of the grains.
A review of whole grains and cardiovascular disease risk factors was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2022. The authors reviewed 25 studies, comparing the impact of whole grains and refined grains among adults with and without cardiovascular disease risk factors.
In their meta-analysis they found that whole grain oats improved cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. They also found that whole grain rice improved triglycerides levels. When comparing whole grain intervention groups with refined grain groups, they found greater improvement in the whole grain groups occurred when measuring outcomes like prediabetes, total body weight, and waist circumference.
Food and Drink With Added Sugar You might have heard it’s good to skip sodas because they are loaded with sugar, but check labels on other drinks, too. Also steer clear of foods like candies, jelly, and desserts — they tend to also be high in sugar, which can lead to weight gain.
Finally, remember this advice from Weisenberger: “A healthy diet is the sum of all of the foods you eat, not just a handful of power foods from each food group here and there.” Strive to include healthy foods at each meal and snack, and you’ll be on your way to better heart health after angioplasty.
Additional reporting by Alexandria Jones-Patten.
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