How to Eat after a Heart Attack

A HEART ATTACK IS A FRIGHTENING, TRAUMATIC EVENT, BUT THE RIGHT DIET CAN IMPROVE RECOVERY, PROTECT THE HEART AGAINST FURTHER DAMAGE, AND ENHANCE ITS FUNCTION.

- VERA TWEED

Nearly one in four people who have a heart attack go on to have a second one, but the right foods can significantly improve the odds of a long and healthy life. More than 20 years ago, the Lyon Diet Heart Study broke new ground by testing the effects of two diets in a group of 605 men and women who had suffered a heart attack. During a period of nearly four years, it found that compared to the usual recommended low-fat diet, a Mediterranean diet reduced second heart attacks, strokes, hospitalizations, and deaths by 73 percent.

This study was unique in that it looked at people after a heart attack. Many other studies have found that the Mediterranean diet is effective in preventing heart disease.

With nearly a thousand patients in his practice, Steven Masley, MD, has found that a modified version of the Mediterranean diet— incorporating additional research on food and heart function—has restored circulation, blocked further growth of plaque, and even reversed heart disease.

The Ideal Diet

“The ideal diet is a combo of Mediterranean and low-glycemic load—cut out the bread and the rice and the pasta and the sugar to get a full benefit from the Mediterranean diet,” says Masley. “Glycemic” refers to how much different foods raise blood sugar—starchy and sugary foods that produce a bigger rise are high-glycemic.

One study tracked more than 20,000 people in Greece who ate a Mediterranean diet for 10 years. It found that those who ate the least starchy and sugary foods were 40 percent less likely to develop heart disease and 50 percent less likely to die from it.