Cardiac patients who are about to undergo cardiac surgery often follow a set of dietary guidelines leading up to their scheduled surgery date. However, those who are overweight before their surgery may have to make even more drastic dietary changes. Regardless of weight prior to cardiac surgery, most people benefit from changing to a low-fat, high nutrient diet.
Making Changes Before Surgery
Before cardiac surgery, people generally follow a cardiac diet outlined by their doctor or a nutritionist. Cardiac diets are low in sodium, concentrated sweets and saturated fats, and high in nutrient-dense food such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. If you are overweight, your doctor may ask you to also lose weight prior to surgery. In this case, calorie restriction may also be in order.
Fluid Restriction
Your doctor may also put you on fluid restriction prior to cardiac surgery if you are prone to congestive heart failure, a condition in which the heart cannot keep up with the body's demands. If your heart is unable to pump efficiently enough to move excess fluids, you can develop swelling in the extremities and gain weight. Excess weight increases strain on the heart. Drinking more than the recommended amount of fluids per day can make the situation worse. Fluid restriction includes not only beverages, but also foods that become liquid at room temperature, such as ice cream. Your doctor may continue to restrict fluids in your diet after surgery if she feels congestive heart failure is still a risk.
Wound Healing After Surgery
While being overweight continues to be a concern following cardiac surgery, the more pressing concern is wound healing. Because of this, you shouldn't cut calories or nutrients until you are fully healed from the surgery. The University of Southern California recommends monitoring your food intake after cardiac surgery, if you're overweight, to ensure that the calories you take in are equal to the calories you expend. If you begin to gain or lose weight, adjust their diet accordingly.
Other General Guidelines
In general, you should continue a heart-healthy diet after surgery. USC recommends that post-surgical cardiac patients eat a variety of foods; however, it stresses the importance of including carbohydrates for energy, and fiber to prevent post-surgical constipation. In addition, USC recommends learning to identify and use correct portion sizes to avoid overloading on excess calories. This is especially true if you're an overweight cardiac surgery patients, as your diet may include more calories than your body actually needs.
Avoiding Complications
After heart surgery, overweight cardiac patients may be more vulnerable to complications than the average person. USC reports that overweight people may have excess triglycerides in their blood, which may increase if you eat too much fat. To avoid potential complications, , keep saturated fats to a maximum of 10 percent of your daily total fat intake. In addition, no more than 30 percent of all your calories should come from fat.
