Diet for stroke: menus and recommendations of doctors

Stroke is trouble, which leads to a lot of big and small problems. The patient may lose some or all control over his body, and then, whether he will be able to restore it, will depend on many factors. Correctly selected diet for cerebral stroke is one of the most important steps of the rehabilitation period. How should you eat to restore your health to the maximum?

Stroke - what is it?

Stroke is a violation of blood circulation in the brain, in which the flow of blood into or out of parts of the brain worsens or stops. As a result of oxygen starvation cells in the affected parts of the brain die. Stroke can be either ischemic or hemorrhagic:

1. Ischemic stroke - a violation of blood circulation due to the formation of a cholesteric plaque or thrombus. In this case, oxygen starvation causes a narrowing of the lumen or a complete overlap of the artery feeding the brain. According to statistics, 80% of strokes are ischemic.
2. Hemorrhagic stroke - nontraumatic hemorrhage due to damage to the vessel. The effusion of blood can be intracerebral or into the space between the arachnoid and the soft membrane (subarchanoidal). With such a stroke, the area of the brain dies due to compression of the formed edema. A huge percentage of hemorrhagic strokes is associated with increased blood pressure.

The most frequent causes of strokes

About high cholesterol, the formation of blood clots and high blood pressure you already know. 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 use of drugs and stimulants.

Why is diet important?

The trouble has already happened. But the level of cholesterol is still high, the propensity to form blood clots has not gone anywhere, and obesity does not pass by the wave of a magic wand. This means that the right diet for strokes becomes a question number 1. By adjusting nutrition and lifestyle, a person significantly reduces the risk of a second stroke and accelerates the process of rehabilitation.

If to generalize, dietary nutrition after a stroke has the following objectives:

1. Providing the body with the necessary set of useful substances. Without this, vital organs will not be able to fully work.
2. Creation of conditions in which the thickening of blood decreases and ceases to be dangerous to health. This is especially important for diabetics.
3. Normalization of weight and preventing its increase, as obesity affects the work of the cardiovascular and endocrine system.

There is no difference in principle what 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 after the menu is the rejection of butter. Cook on sunflower, salad dressing with olive, rapeseed or linseed oil. It is important!

The next rule is the rejection of fatty meat. Diet in stroke allows for about 120 g of low-fat meat per day. And keep in mind: meat is cooked for a couple or boiled. For a change, sometimes it can be baked.

Completely abandon fast food and convenience foods. This food is difficult even for healthy people, and after a stroke it is simply unacceptable.

Reduce the consumption of eggs. Make the menu so that you can use no more than three pieces per week. The diet after the stroke is aimed, in particular, at reducing the level of cholesterol, but in eggs it is quite a lot.

Stop leaning on bread, rolls, cakes and biscuits. If you can not without bread at all, then buy corn bread, products from oatmeal or whole wheat bread.

What portions should be

Diet after a stroke at home is designed in such a way as to avoid an acute sense of hunger. Take food more often, but do smaller portions than before. You can not overeat, because for many, the important goal is getting rid of excess weight. You can not eat between sandwiches and rolls. It is necessary to distribute meals so that the need for snacks is not 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 surrounding tissues, thereby increasing the load on the vascular system. The use of salt often causes the increase in blood pressure, and this can not be allowed. The diet after a stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) should be salt-free.

When the patient's condition improves noticeably, he can refuse fresh (not salty) food. In this case, minimal salt addition is allowed. But the ideal is considered an option, when the patient after a stroke gets used to be satisfied with salted dishes.

Which products must be included in the menu

How is the diet formed during a stroke? The menu must include a large number of vegetables and fruits. It is important to use them daily throughout the year. Preference is given to vegetables and fruits that contain a lot of fiber, folic acid and vitamin B. If the sugar level is normal, then every day it is worth eating a banana, because it has a lot of potassium. Potassium reduces the chance of a second stroke by 25%. The diet should include carrots, legumes, asparagus, spinach, soy, cabbage, zucchini and eggplant, radish. You ask about potatoes, because this is the most popular and affordable vegetable on our table? Alas, but the potatoes loved by many are not the most useful vegetable. Diet for stroke does not require a complete rejection of potatoes, but it should not be included in the diet 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, because they are antioxidants and help restore normal blood flow, reducing the clumping of red blood cells.

From dairy products it is necessary to exclude cheeses. They contain a lot of cholesterol. It is desirable to use low-fat cottage cheese, kefir or ryazhenka from time to time.

Choose gruel as a side dish. For breakfast, you can prepare oatmeal with fruit. In the afternoon, buckwheat or rice porridge will go well, especially if you use brown rice.

A few words about fish and meat

Diet for stroke necessarily includes sea fish. It is sea fish, the river does not contain the right omega-3 acids. Many exclude this product, because they consider the fish expensive, but it is necessary, at least as a source of phosphorus, which has a beneficial effect on the brain, improving the metabolism.

Lovers of meat should prefer rabbit, turkey, veal. Meat ducks and chicken can be cooked only without the skin. But offal (brain, liver and other liver) will have to be abandoned. In these products, a large amount of cholesterol. By the way, it is especially important that a diet for stroke ischemic, kept 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. From drinks it is possible to include in a diet of fruit drinks and uzvar (compote from dried fruits). A decoction of rose hips, not very sweet jelly, kvas, preferably home-made, fresh juices. Suppose tea, but only slightly brewed, but coffee under complete prohibition. In no case can you drink sweet soda, it increases the level of sugar, prevents the fight against obesity, damages small vessels.

About alcoholic drinks after a stroke you need to forget, they will only harm.

How to cook

Diet for strokes is not too strict. It is advisable to discuss this matter with the attending physician and dietician. Experts will give qualified recommendations, according to which it is possible to compose a diverse menu of suitable products. If you feed a person who has suffered a stroke with the same dishes, he will begin to refuse food, as his taste is broken, and monotony simply causes disgust for food.

Do not give the patient fried or smoked. If he does not like steam and boiled cuisine, then cook in the oven, but without oil. Be sure to prepare soups and broths. If the patient has impaired the swallowing function, then grind food in a blender or prepare smoothies. Never give too hot or very cold meals. All food should be warm or at room temperature.

Instead of salt, add spicy spices and herbs, this improves the taste, smell and reduces the feeling of lack of salt.

Sample menu for one day

Here's what a person's diet can look like after a stroke:

1. Early breakfast: unsweetened oatmeal with fruit or dried fruits, juice or weak tea, some nuts or honey.
2. Late breakfast: light green or vegetable salad, a little whole grain bread.
3. Lunch: soup with a slice of lean meat or sea fish, some buckwheat porridge, fruit salad or just fruit.
4. Afternoon snack: low-fat cottage cheese (you can add a little dried apricots or prunes).
5. Dinner: A piece of boiled rabbit or chicken without skin, a serving of mashed potatoes, a glass of fruit juice or compote.

To achieve the set result and achieve maximum rehabilitation, the main thing is to convince the person that the right diet is not a whim, but a necessity. Then you will be allies in the fight against the consequences of a stroke.