Nutrition and Exercise, Two Most Important Recommendations for Heart Patients

Heart diseases are one of the leading causes of death all across the world including India. For us things are worse as in India, the onset of heart disease occurs 10 years earlier than the western population. Proper diet and regular exercise help you keep many diseases away from you, and if you already have it, it helps in controlling it. Here’s what Dr Rahul Chabbria, Consultant Cardiology, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre suggests:

Exercise Regularly:

In general, it’s recommended that a healthy adult should have at least 30 minutes and for children at least 60 minutes at least 5 times a week do exercise. Joining a Gym is not the only way to exercise. Even if you can’t dedicate this much time, few changes in daily routine will definitely have some health benefits. Look for ways to increase your heart rate during your daily routine.

–Walk or cycle instead of taking the auto or car.

–Walk short distances

–Choose the stairs over the escalator or elevator.

–Instead of calling friends, take a walk together to catch up

–Park your car as far away as possible so you have to walk a longer distance from your destination.

–Get off the bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way.

–Replace a coffee break with an outdoor walk—or take the coffee with you on your walk.

If you can dedicate your timing, there are various methods for doing exercises. Every person has different exercise tolerance. Aerobic activities make you breathe harder and your heart beat faster. A scientific way to know the level of exercise would be by your heart rate increment during exercise. The target heart rate should be achieved between 60 to 85 % of your maximum heart rate (Maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age in years). A general guide to use: For moderate activities you can talk, but you can’t sing. With vigorous activities, you can only say a few words without stopping to catch your breath.

For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.

Various exercises can be Brisk walking, Jogging, Cycling, Swimming, any form of outdoor sports, etc.

Diet:

Diet plays a very important role in our health. Having a balanced diet is essential. Fasting is never a good option for weight loss. Few important things about diet:

–Drink plenty of water.

–Avoid drinks which contain lots of sugars, prefer fresh juices/buttermilk over carbonated soft drinks.

–Switch to low fat milk.

–Eat seasonal fruits.

–Make half your plate with fruits and vegetables.

–Avoid heavy meals at night, preferably have a heavy breakfast, average lunch and light dinner.

–Control your portion size.

–Avoid using too much oil in food, avoid deep frying.

–Keep rotating your cooking oil type.

–Avoid foods with transfats and saturated fats.

–If you are a non-vegetarian then avoid red meat.

So “EAT RIGHT AND STAY FIT”. Wish everyone a healthy heart on this world heart day.