The Angioplast and Food
If you have a stent in your heart, I am going to refer to you as an Angioplast. It isn't a real word, but there is no succinct word to describe this condition, so this is easiest, and fun as well. I know that heart attacks, medicasial infarction, and stents are not a joke, but you're an Angioplast, like it or not, and life still has a lot of enjoyment for you.
Now that you have a heart condition you will have to avoid booze, fatty foods, and salty foods. We can't do anything about our genetics, but there is a lot that must be done. We have to avoid fatty food to keep LDL levels down. LDL is most often called the bad fat, usually in quotation marks. LDL, Low-Density Lipoproteins, are the same cholesterol as HDL, High-Density Lipoproteins. THe only difference is the case that surrounds the cholesterol. The simple explanation is that LDL leaves cholesterol behind as the travel, which clogs arteries.
http://mdaskme.com/cholesterol
We have to avoid salty foods to keep blood pressure under control, which can lead to hardening of the arteries...(the arteries are strained and stressed far too often because of high blood pressure like the elastic in an old sock. Once the elasticity is diminished, the arteries are no longer pliable and become hardened). In my research, the time-line looks to be about 5 years if you don't make changes before you end up with a heart attack. In particular, smoking is something that you have to completely put behind you. Even one cigarette a week will become fatal. Also, if someone you live with is a smoker, that will also lead to a heart attack in the near future. If you are planning on staying alive, you have to quit smoking even secondhand smoke is fatal.
I was a bit disappointed when the doctor told me that I have to lower my cholesterol, blood pressure, and lose weight. I told him OK, and that was it. So I was wondering - how do I make all those things happen. I am still trying to figure it all out. What I have been doing is working. In a month, I have lost weight, gained a bit of muscle, and my blood pressure is fine and my cholesterol is also fine. I was prescribed medicine for cholesterol and for blood pressure, but I hope to get off of as much medicine as possible for cost but more for avoiding side effects.
A positive note is that if you want to find out about if a food is healthy or not just type in the name of the food + "heart health" and you will quickly get a wealth of information on the food in relation to heart health. What is daunting is how to find the food that you will need to stay healthy, and keep it in stock. I am living in Korea, where the grocery stores do not stock a lot of the foods that we all take for granted. I wanted to start eating a Canadian cereal called Red River, but since it is a whole-grain cereal, it is heavy, so as an import it is wickedly expensive. I decided to approximate it, but then found the same problem with cracked wheat. CousCous is processed, cracked wheat is exactly what it sounds like, a cracked grain of wheat. In the end, I found out that "Dalia" is an Indian name for cracked wheat and since it has less distance to travel, "Dalia" is cheaper than cracked wheat. Then I found flaxseed in the baking market of my town, and whole oats, although not so common were pretty easily obtained in the regular grocery stores. I am still looking for "rye meal", whatever that is to complete the cereal, but I substituted whole oats for rye meal. I found out that you have to grind the flax seeds, or you are just giving them the scenic route to your bathroom. I do leave some whole to give the cereal some texture. I took some camping and when I offered some to a good friend, he told me he wasn't sure if he was should to eat it or use it to glue some wallpaper to the wall. So, this cereal that I put so much effort into is now commonly known as "glue" among my family and friends.
I boil about one cup of water for 2 tablespoons of this cereal. 3 tablespoons are a pretty good breakfast. The grains roll around in the water on their own, so are pretty easy to prepare, but it takes some time, and if you miss the exact moment when the water reduces, it is a bit messy since to sticks to bottom of the pot. So, I usually boil about 3 days worth and put 2 days in the fridge. I keep a large container of frozen blueberries and put them in the hot cereal....the cereal cools and the blueberries thaw, and it is ready to eat.
This cereal is not great tasting, but you can feel your body taking in all the good stuff that it provides, so that is what makes it great for me. I tried putting cinnamon in it, or milk, but in the end, I am just happy with something that is easy enough to prepare and gives me a lot of energy to get through a morning run and workout. I am not saying this exact food is the best for everyone, but it is an example of the kind of journey you have to take to switch from regular meals, in particular, breakfast which is either so very full of harmful LDL foods like bacon, sausage, fried eggs, or highly processed flours like pancakes or waffles, or even worse sugar cereals that are about the same as sitting down and eating a bowl of icecream or candy. The good news is once you find something you like that is easy to keep stocked in your home, it becomes much easier to eat a healthy breakfast.
We have to avoid salty foods to keep blood pressure under control, which can lead to hardening of the arteries...(the arteries are strained and stressed far too often because of high blood pressure like the elastic in an old sock. Once the elasticity is diminished, the arteries are no longer pliable and become hardened). In my research, the time-line looks to be about 5 years if you don't make changes before you end up with a heart attack. In particular, smoking is something that you have to completely put behind you. Even one cigarette a week will become fatal. Also, if someone you live with is a smoker, that will also lead to a heart attack in the near future. If you are planning on staying alive, you have to quit smoking even secondhand smoke is fatal.
I was a bit disappointed when the doctor told me that I have to lower my cholesterol, blood pressure, and lose weight. I told him OK, and that was it. So I was wondering - how do I make all those things happen. I am still trying to figure it all out. What I have been doing is working. In a month, I have lost weight, gained a bit of muscle, and my blood pressure is fine and my cholesterol is also fine. I was prescribed medicine for cholesterol and for blood pressure, but I hope to get off of as much medicine as possible for cost but more for avoiding side effects.
A positive note is that if you want to find out about if a food is healthy or not just type in the name of the food + "heart health" and you will quickly get a wealth of information on the food in relation to heart health. What is daunting is how to find the food that you will need to stay healthy, and keep it in stock. I am living in Korea, where the grocery stores do not stock a lot of the foods that we all take for granted. I wanted to start eating a Canadian cereal called Red River, but since it is a whole-grain cereal, it is heavy, so as an import it is wickedly expensive. I decided to approximate it, but then found the same problem with cracked wheat. CousCous is processed, cracked wheat is exactly what it sounds like, a cracked grain of wheat. In the end, I found out that "Dalia" is an Indian name for cracked wheat and since it has less distance to travel, "Dalia" is cheaper than cracked wheat. Then I found flaxseed in the baking market of my town, and whole oats, although not so common were pretty easily obtained in the regular grocery stores. I am still looking for "rye meal", whatever that is to complete the cereal, but I substituted whole oats for rye meal. I found out that you have to grind the flax seeds, or you are just giving them the scenic route to your bathroom. I do leave some whole to give the cereal some texture. I took some camping and when I offered some to a good friend, he told me he wasn't sure if he was should to eat it or use it to glue some wallpaper to the wall. So, this cereal that I put so much effort into is now commonly known as "glue" among my family and friends.
I boil about one cup of water for 2 tablespoons of this cereal. 3 tablespoons are a pretty good breakfast. The grains roll around in the water on their own, so are pretty easy to prepare, but it takes some time, and if you miss the exact moment when the water reduces, it is a bit messy since to sticks to bottom of the pot. So, I usually boil about 3 days worth and put 2 days in the fridge. I keep a large container of frozen blueberries and put them in the hot cereal....the cereal cools and the blueberries thaw, and it is ready to eat.
This cereal is not great tasting, but you can feel your body taking in all the good stuff that it provides, so that is what makes it great for me. I tried putting cinnamon in it, or milk, but in the end, I am just happy with something that is easy enough to prepare and gives me a lot of energy to get through a morning run and workout. I am not saying this exact food is the best for everyone, but it is an example of the kind of journey you have to take to switch from regular meals, in particular, breakfast which is either so very full of harmful LDL foods like bacon, sausage, fried eggs, or highly processed flours like pancakes or waffles, or even worse sugar cereals that are about the same as sitting down and eating a bowl of icecream or candy. The good news is once you find something you like that is easy to keep stocked in your home, it becomes much easier to eat a healthy breakfast.
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