Compassionate Nutrition for Heart Health

Heart Healthy Food

When we think about nutrition for heart health we do not often link compassion with what we eat but if we did we could be more focused upon what we need to improve our heart health. Everyone is an individual with different needs and this is how person-centred compassionate care works and can be more effective than broadly applying what we know about heart health to everyone. However, as far back as 2013 Doctors in America were discussing in the person-centred medical journal, The Permanente Journal, the importance of nutrition in the treatment of many chronic conditions. including cardiovascular disease.

Despite the strong body of evidence favouring plant-based diets, including studies showing a willingness of the general public to embrace them,4 many physicians are not stressing the importance of plant-based diets as a first-line treatment for chronic illnesses. This could be because of a lack of awareness of these diets or a lack of patient education resources. (Tuso et al 2013

As health professionals, we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone is aware of how their food and nutritional intake can affect their heart health so it is important to take a compassionate person-centred approach to help people become more healthy.  Besides, we also need to dispel some of the myths around some food that has been given a bad name concerning heart health for example fat.

People have been told to avoid fat for many years but this has led to an increase in the consumption of sugar and carbohydrate. Too much carbohydrate in our diet can force the body to make its own fat and deposit it in the adipose tissues of the body. This is a natural thing for our bodies to do as we are genetically programmed to store food for when we cannot find it.  The increase in obesity can clearly be seen all over the developed world. For people who store fat around the organs (apple-shaped) this is very dangerous and can lead to major organ failure as the body tries to cope with the extra exertion needed for it to work properly.  (This applies to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease too)

We do need some fat especially for the brain and nervous system where each nerve cell, and there are billions of them, are protected by a layer of fat, we also need fat to transport fat-soluble vitamins and to make new neurotransmitters to support the heart and digestive system.

Fat is not the enemy therefore but a high carbohydrate intake can increase the amount of fat the body stores without us even knowing it. Working with people to find out how much carbohydrates they are consuming including refined and processed food, can help people to reduce the amount of fat stored and consequently helps the heart to function better.  Compassionate nutrition requires the 3 components of compassion  (see Ghisoni 2016 in compassion evidence) to discover the best way to help someone recover their heart health.  This will include

Universality – help the person to find out what help they need, is it in cooking and choosing healthy food or in reading labels on food correctly? Ask questions and share your own experience of trying to eat healthily.

Diversity – find out what foods the person likes and dislikes, what they can afford, and what is available to them. Be sympathetic to their needs and don’t try to force your own ideas upon them.

Recovery – help the person to find ways to get more nutrition into their daily meals and by preparing healthy food for the whole family.

Nutritious food is important for everyone regardless of where we live or work. Helping people to get more nutrition into their lives and meals will help them to live longer, happier, and healthier lives and reduce the effects of chronic illnesses such as heart disease.  This is now being recognised by many policymakers in many different countries,  but it is up to those of us who work in health and complementary care to make it happen.

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