Stroke is a disaster that leads to many big and small problems. The patient may partially or completely lose control of his body, and whether he can restore this to him will depend on many factors. A properly selected diet for a stroke of the brain is one of the most important steps in the rehabilitation period. How to eat in order to restore health as much as possible?
Stroke - what is it?
A stroke is called a circulatory disturbance in the brain, in which the flow of blood to certain areas worsens or stops. As a result of oxygen starvation, cells in the affected parts of the brain die. Stroke can be of ischemic or hemorrhagic type:
- Ischemic stroke is a circulatory disorder due to the formation of a cholesterol plaque or blood clot. In this case, oxygen starvation causes a narrowing of the lumen or complete closure of the artery that feeds the brain. According to statistics, 80% of strokes are ischemic.
- Hemorrhagic stroke - non-traumatic hemorrhage as a result of damage to the vessel. An outpouring of blood can be intracerebral or into the space between the arachnoid and the soft membrane (subarchanoid). With such a stroke, a part of the brain dies due to compression by the resulting edema. A huge percentage of hemorrhagic strokes are associated with high blood pressure.
The most common causes of strokes
You already know about high cholesterol, blood clots and high blood pressure. But these are not the only causes of strokes. Often the cause of a stroke is smoking, heart and vascular disease, a high degree of obesity, uncontrolled intake of drugs and stimulants.
Why is diet important?
The trouble has already happened. But the level of cholesterol is still high, the tendency to form blood clots has not disappeared, and obesity does not pass by magic. This means that the right diet for stroke becomes issue number 1. By adjusting nutrition and lifestyle, a person significantly reduces the risk of re-stroke and speeds up the rehabilitation process.
To summarize, diet after stroke has the following goals:
- Providing the body with the necessary set of nutrients. Without this, vital organs cannot fully function.
- Creating conditions under which blood clotting decreases and ceases to be hazardous to health. This is especially important for diabetics.
- Normalization of weight and preventing its increase, as obesity affects the functioning of the cardiovascular and endocrine system.
There is no fundamental difference that caused the stroke. The diet after a stroke is selected according to similar rules in both cases.
How to make a menu?
The first rule of the after-stroke menu is to refuse butter. Cook on sunflower, salads season with olive, rapeseed or linseed oil. It is important!
The next rule is the rejection of fatty meats. The diet for stroke allows the consumption of about 120 g of lean meat per day. And note: the meat is steamed or boiled. For a change, it can sometimes be baked.
Give up fast food and convenience foods completely. This food is difficult even for healthy people, and after a stroke it is simply unacceptable.
Reduce egg consumption. Make the menu so that you can use no more than three pieces per week. The diet after a stroke is aimed, inter alia, at lowering cholesterol, and in eggs it is quite a lot.
Stop leaning on bread, rolls, pastries, and cookies. If you can’t live without bread at all, then buy corn bread, oatmeal products or whole grain bread.
What should be the servings
The diet after a stroke at home is designed in such a way as to avoid an acute hunger. You need to eat more often, but do less portions than before. You can not overeat, because for many it becomes an important goal to lose weight. You should not snack between sandwiches and buns between meals. It is necessary to distribute meals so that there is no need for snacks at all.
A few words about salt
Immediately after a stroke, salt is not added to food at all. It leads to fluid stagnation. Moreover, it draws fluid from the tissues surrounding the vessels, thereby increasing the load on the vascular system. The use of salt often causes an increase in blood pressure, and this should not be allowed. The diet after a stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) should be salt-free.
When the patient's condition improves markedly, he can refuse fresh (not salty) food. In this case, a minimal addition of salt is allowed. But the ideal option is when the patient after a stroke gets used to being content with light-salted dishes.
What products must be included in the menu
How is a diet formed with a stroke? The menu must include a large number of vegetables and fruits. It is important to consume them daily throughout the year. Preference is given to vegetables and fruits, which contain a lot of fiber, folic acid and vitamin B. If the sugar level is normal, then you should eat a banana every day, because it contains a large amount of potassium. Potassium reduces the likelihood of a second stroke by 25%. Carrots, legumes, asparagus, spinach, soy, cabbage, zucchini and eggplant, radishes should be added to the diet. You ask about potatoes, because this is the most popular and affordable vegetable on our table? Alas, the favorite potato by many is not the most useful vegetable. The diet for a stroke does not require a complete rejection of potatoes, but it should be included in the diet no more than twice a week.
But cranberries and blueberries should be on the menu as often as possible. These berries are very useful after a stroke, as they are antioxidants and help restore normal blood flow, reducing the adhesion of red blood cells.
Cheese should be excluded from dairy products. They contain a lot of cholesterol. It is advisable from time to time to use low-fat cottage cheese, kefir or fermented baked milk.
Choose porridge as a side dish. For breakfast, you can cook oatmeal with fruit. Buckwheat or rice porridge will be good during the day, especially if brown rice is used.
A few words about fish and meat
Diet for stroke necessarily includes marine fish. It is sea fish, river fish does not contain the necessary omega-3 acids. Many people exclude this product because they consider fish expensive, but it is necessary, if only as a source of phosphorus, which has a beneficial effect on the brain, improving metabolism.
Meat lovers should give preference to rabbit, turkey, veal. Duck and chicken can only be cooked without skin. But by-products (brains, liver and other liver) will have to be abandoned. These foods contain large amounts of cholesterol. By the way, it is especially important that the diet for ischemic stroke, keep under control the level of cholesterol in foods.
What can I drink?
During the day, it is important to drink water, clean, simple, not carbonated. Of drinks, you can include fruit drinks and uzvar (dried fruit compote) in the diet. A rosehip broth is suitable, not very sweet jelly, kvass, preferably homemade, fresh juices. Let's say tea, but only slightly brewed, but coffee is completely prohibited. In no case can you drink sweet soda, it raises the level of sugar, interferes with the fight against obesity, damages small vessels.
After a stroke, you need to forget about alcoholic beverages, they will only do much harm.
How to cook
The diet for a stroke is not too strict. It is advisable to discuss this issue with your doctor and nutritionist. Specialists will give qualified recommendations according to which you can make a varied menu of suitable products. If you feed a person who has suffered a stroke with the same dishes, then he will begin to refuse food, because his taste sensations are violated, and the monotony simply causes an aversion to food.
Do not give the patient fried or smoked. If he does not like steam and boiled kitchen, then cook in the oven, but without oil. Be sure to cook soups and broths. If the patient has a swallowing function, grind the food in a blender or cook a smoothie. Never give too hot or very cold dishes. All food should be warm or at room temperature.
Instead of salt, add mild spices and herbs, this improves the taste, smell and reduces the feeling of lack of salt.
Sample menu for one day
This is what a person’s diet after a stroke may look like:
- Early breakfast: unsweetened oatmeal with fruits or dried fruits, juice or weak tea, some nuts or honey.
- Late breakfast: light green or vegetable salad, some whole grain bread.
- Lunch: soup with a slice of lean meat or sea fish, a little buckwheat porridge, fruit salad or just fruit.
- Snack: low-fat cottage cheese (you can add a little dried apricots or prunes).
- Dinner: A piece of boiled rabbit or chicken without skin, a portion of mashed potatoes, a glass of fruit drink or compote.
In order to achieve the set result and achieve maximum rehabilitation, the main thing is to convince a person that a proper diet is not a whim, but a necessity. Then you will be allies in the fight against the consequences of a stroke.