The three foods our heart failure patients should avoid are food high in saturated fats and trans fats, sugary drinks and sodas as well as sugary foods and high sodium processed foods.
Examples of high sodium processed foods that heart failure patients should avoid are frozen dinners, canned soups, fast foods, processed foods like hot dogs, bacon, ham, salty snacks like pretzels and chips and condiments like salad dressing and soy sauce.
These foods should be avoided when you have heart failure as excess sodium causes your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure and strains the heart as well as causes swelling.
Examples of foods that are high in saturated fats and trans fats that you should avoid with heart failure are fried foods, fatty cuts of red meat and foods that are made with shortening or lard.
The reason why heart failure patients should avoid these foods high in saturated fats and trans fats are because the fats can raise bad cholesterol levels also known as LDL cholesterol and can result in a buildup of fatty deposits in your arteries and increase your risk of a heart attack and stroke.
Sugary drinks and sugary foods should also be avoided in heart failure as the added sugars provide empty calories, contribute to weight gain and can worsen your blood sugar control.
The silent killer of heart failure is high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is the silent killer of heart failure, because high blood pressure does not have any symptoms and can damage your arteries and lead to heart failure.
Other underlying conditions that can cause heart failure can also be silent killers of heart failure as they progress over time without any obvious symptoms that can include high cholesterol, diabetes and coronary artery disease.
High blood pressure puts extra strain on your arteries and usually has no symptoms and uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage your arteries and make it harder for your heart top pump the blood effectively and increase your risk of a heart attack as well as heart failure over time.
The only way to know if you do have high blood pressure is to check your blood pressure with a blood pressure monitor.
Walking is also good for heart failure as walking helps get the blood flowing and your heart pumping and increases your functional capacity.
When you have heart failure you should aim to remain as active as possible and when walking, start slowly and then gradually increase the duration and intensity of your walks.
Even walking around the house, walking around a mall, store etc can help with heart failure.
Regular walking can help to reduce shortness of breath and improve your ability to perform daily activities and physical activity including walking helps your heart get stronger and improves the hearts ability to pump blood more effectively.
Walking and regular physical activity also helps to regulate your blood pressure and lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol as well as aid in weight management, which all also reduce strain on your heart.
Walking also enhances circulation and stimulates the growth of new blood vessels, which also improves circulation and ensures your heart gets the oxygen that it needs.
A weak heart can become strong again in some cases, although it depends on how weak the heart is and how severe the heart failure is.
If the weak heart or heart failure is in it's earliest stages, it can be easier for the heart to become strong again, although if the heart weakness or heart failure is too far advanced, the heart might not recover.
Strengthening a weak heart will involve a combination of medical treatments as well as lifestyle changes, becoming active, eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, getting adequate sleep and managing stress.
Doctors might prescribe medications for a weak heart to manage the symptoms and improve your hearts function.
These medications that a doctor may prescribe for your weak heart are ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and even diuretics to help with the blood flow as well as lower your blood pressure and reduce fluid buildup.
Doing regular exercise and developing a personalized exercise program, which includes strength training and even aerobic exercise can improve your muscle strength as well as endurance and help your heart function more effectively.
When doing exercise to strengthen your heart, start with gentle exercise like walking and then gradually increase the intensity of the exercise.
Eating a heart healthy diet can also help strengthen your heart and reduce sodium intake, which is also crucial for managing fluid levels and reducing strain on your heart.
Chronic stress can also impact your heart health negatively, and so reducing stress can help improve heart health and protect your heart.
Doing things like meditation, yoga and deep breathing can also help lower your stress hormones.
And be sure to try and get plenty of sleep, getting 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep per night is very important for the body's overall health as well as keeping your heart healthy.
And if you smoke or drink alcohol, you should quit smoking and quit or limit alcohol intake as smoking damages your arteries and heart and excessive alcohol can also weaken your heart muscle.
And keeping your blood pressure in check and diabetes under control is also essential for heart health.