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DIET
FOR A HEALTHY HEART
FOOD
is and has always been an integral part of mans life. The passion for
food continues to be increasing, with the many eating joints mushrooming
in the city and each of them offering a variety of tongue lingering
dishes! Bangladeshi
food has been influenced by the regional variations of its history. Once
an outpost of the Mughal empire, Bangladesh retains part of this
heritage through its cuisine-spicy kababs &
koftas. Coronary
Artery Disease (CAD) is the single most important disease entity, in
most of the nations - both in terms of morbidity & mortality. The
risk factors identified are dyslipedemia, hypertension, smoking etc.
Risk factor reduction is the primary clinical approach to prevent CAD.
Hence dietary therapy plays a vital role in the prevention of heart
diseases and it is important to follow this diligently. But this does
not mean that the meals should be unappetizing. It is only by following
certain DO’s and DON’Ts that one can ensure of a “healthy heart”
and thereby an increased quality of life. Inadequate
physical activity combined with cholesterol and saturated fat rich diet
has been proved to be associated with an increased risk for CAD. Here it
would be very pertinent to mention the unusually high incidence of CAD
in South Asians at an early age. There is an encouraging downtrend in
CAD in the western countries. The west has recognized the hazards of
high saturated fat diet and taken low cholesterol diet on a war footing
by public campaigns. Precious little has been done in South Asian
countries like India, Srilanka and Bangladesh. Specially in Bangladesh
the very high consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol does play a
role in causing heart attacks. Certain food items like Kachi biriyani,
red meat ,milk sweets and eggs form a large part of the daily diet here.
These foods almost certainly contribute to the rising trend of heart
diseases. The
following food items are more heart friendly and maybe used without much
restriction. [DOs]
Milk:
Toned milk Skimmed
milk Meat:
Lean cuts of meat, fish, chicken [All cooked with small amount of
oil] Vegetables,
Fruits and Dal The
following food items should be avoided or restricted. [DON’Ts] Whole
milk, condensed milk, cream, cheese. Organ
meat like Liver, Kidney, Egg yolk, Prawns, Lobster, Crabs. Fried
food like Potato chips, Samosas, Puns. Chocolates Milk
sweets like Gulabjam, Rasmalai. Saturated fat like Butter, Ghee, Vanaspathy, Pickles, Pappad, High Calorie Carbonated
Beverages. “Prevention
is better than cure” is what we all know. It
is the urgent need of the hour for all of us to increase our awareness
about the importance of diet and keep our hearts healthy. Hence DON’T
-
LIVE TO EAT DO
- EAT TO L1VE
Dr. Akila Ravi Kumar Mrs.
Samsun Naher
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