Advice on diet for healthy hearts please

The smoking and drinking need to be addressed before worrying too much about a slice of cake. It may be very difficult for him to tackle all 3 areas of concern at once. Many cardiologists are keen on plant based diets these days. The British Heart Foundation have good information on diet.

Thanks honey20miss. I am predi. That is useful.

Thanks Jane43. Good for you. I'll have a look at this. I have slipped back a bit. The one good thing we have done is we've stopped buying chocolate biscuits. If you don't buy the things you won't be tempted..

Products containing simple carbohydrates are not recommended for diabetics, but this restriction is not due to the high sugar content of the product, but to the fact that it contains "instant" sugar, which very quickly increases blood glucose levels. These are sugar, honey, jams and jams, candies, pastries and other sweets, sweet fruits and berries: grapes, bananas, raisins, dates. Often there are even recommendations to completely eliminate these foods from the diet, but this is really necessary only for severe diabetes. In the mild and moderate forms of type 2 diabetes, provided that blood sugar levels are regularly monitored, eating small amounts of sugar and sweets is quite acceptable. When my brother got sick, we decided to ask a health coach scottgoodingproject.com/online-health-coaching to teach us how to calculate the glycemic index of foods.

The link doesn’t seem to be working so I’ll give it again

www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

The Mediterranean Diet has been recommended for many years for heart health.

This link gives information-https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

All the diets in the world won’t help unless he is committed to improve his health. I have the opposite experience - my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and raised cholesterol 18 months ago. We both did lots of research on how he could avoid medication and we have both changed our eating habits. He was committed from day one, we are both much healthier and his blood sugar and cholesterol are now in the normal range. He has a dessert and two glasses of red wine on Saturdays and Sundays but is very strict on weekdays.

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Thank you all - BHF site very useful.
Chicken Chow Mien tonight from a diabetic cookbook I found in library- actually sounds very nice.

If he only does one thing that will make the most impact, it will be to give up smoking. People who do all the right things are not immune to heart disease. At the end of the day it's up to him to make the necessary changes, but perhaps he is happier with his treats.

Not too much tuna, you have to be careful of the mercury intake.

I would gradually get rid of the sugary stuff and bring in more healthy things. My previous partner suffered from overweight and had to lose a lot of it before he had an operation to remove his gall bladder. I used to make vegetable broth and add pasta to it. Also a vegetable paella with lots of veg, I hope he is ok and do take care of yourself.

Oily fish is good.

Mackerel, herring, salmon, tuna etc.

Recommended by my DHs consultant.

Tanith, I agree with you. For the past several years, I’ve made sure we both eat relatively healthy foods, much to DH’s annoyance. He tops his diet up with crisps, salted nuts, alcohol and chocolate bars. Not so long ago he found he was type 2 diabetic and was sent to diet classes. He came home staggered that he knew what a good diet consisted of (much nagging from me) and made some changes and lost weight. He is now steadily putting it on again, slipping back.

Guess what? I no longer have the will to act as the diet police! I’ve given up and stopped being concerned about his diet. I love him dearly but it really is now down to him.

Hopefully Craftycat, your DH will try to get to grips with this.

BTW, I’m no saint as I love cake but try to limit myself by only eating what I make.

Good luck

All you can do is your best he’s only cheating himself out of a longer healthier life if he does so but his choice as a grown adult.

Go onto BHF (British Heart Foundation) website and Heart UK website. Some good things on there.