Nutrition for Pediatric Cardiomyopathy
The goal is to decrease chances of obesity and clogged arteries with the healthiest options out there. Diligently eating healthy is the most important preventative to cardiomyopathy, which includes eating less salt, less fats, and more nutrients.
- Low saturated fats and low trans fats: lean meat (chicken, turkey, fish)
- You should also be drinking low fat milk and dairy products to maintain blood pressure levels.
- Replace salty seasonings with lemon, pepper, garlic, onions, or other spices (ginger, cinnamon, parsley, oregano, so much more)
- Eat vegetables, about 6-8 a day.
- For children (and anyone who needs a more abundant diet with more calories), it's important that they get a great amount of protein and fatty acids to support growth and energy, but of course still being cautious of too much (foods from animals like eggs, milk, meat for high protein intake, carbs from grain like pasta or bread and carbs from vegetables like corn or potatoes)
- To prevent inflammation, eat fatty fish and vegetable oils like soybean, canola, etc. that are high in alpha-linolenic acid.
- Meat and seafood is not only good for protein, fatty acids, and nutrients, but is also high in selenium which is a common link to many diseases including cardiomyopathy, even though this mineral is greatly overlooked.
Patients with cardiomyopathy are at a greater risk of obesity and clogged arteries. Preventative measures such as eating healthy and avoiding carbs is not as straightforward at a first glance, especially when there are fats we still need to be consuming and stereotypically healthy foods that can actually be harmful.
One of the most important food choices should be reducing salt intake to avoid high blood pressure. Salt is pretty much everywhere, especially in large quantities in processed or canned foods, so make sure to watch out for packaged foods with more than 350 mg of sodium. Frozen or fresh foods are some of the healthiest options without extra salt from processing.
For carbs and fats, we still need them! Just in moderation and from healthy sources.
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