Ramadan is just around the corner. You must be geared up to celebrate this holy month with full enthusiasm. You must be ready to put in all efforts, to please your God. But as happy as you are, your heart must be crying. He wants to be happy too, but you don’t allow it to be. While you will be enjoying your night-long Taraweeh your heart will be trying to keep itself alive. It will be trying to fight all the diseases you have put it through. It will be crying. All thanks to the grease-loaded aloo ka samosa and pakoras you ate during the aftari. So here are a few ways to console your heart. Mind you, we can generalize these tips for heart patients for everybody.
For heart patients, fasting doesn’t follow the same rules as healthy people, and they need to remember that. Heart patients have to be more careful due to their sensitive condition. You need to keep your diet, medication, and physical activity in check. The most important thing is to consult a good cardiologist beforehand. Set an appointment with your heart specialist and discuss your fasting concerns in detail. You can easily have access to the best cardiologists in Pakistan via MARHAM.
Learn all about your heart and ways to protect it.
Tips For Heart Patients
Following are the 5 best tips for heart patients to have problem-free fasts in Ramadan.
1. Have Your Blood Pressure Checked
Patients having blood pressure (hypertension) should get their blood pressure (BP) checked before Ramadan. Make sure that your blood pressure is reasonably controlled. Depending on your blood pressure, you can devise your fasting plans with your cardiologist or nutritionist. Checking your blood pressure daily is essential, the moment you detect a disturbance you should seek immediate help or take your prescribed medicine.
Patients with uncontrolled hypertension should strictly avoid fasting.
2. Don’t Skip Your Medication
Ask your cardiologist about your medication schedule. There are several combination tablets that can be taken with Suhoor meal and with Iftaar. Don’t skip your daily dose even if you feel fine. If you want to change your medication, ask your doctor first.
Patients who underwent angioplasty or bypass surgery more than a year ago can observe fast. But only if they are capable of performing routine activities and take all their medicines.
3. Don’t Over-Eat During Iftar
Anyone shouldn’t overeat ever! The feeling that we have to stay hungry for the next 16 hours often makes us overeat during the Suhoor. And the feeling that we haven’t eaten for the last 16 hours makes us eat more during Ifta. We somehow have made Ramdan all about eating and overeating for that matter. Overeating can increase the burden on your heart. Overeating is the easiest one-way ticket to obesity and obesity is the biggest enemy of your heart. So limiting your food intake to just what your body requires is your best bet.
4. Eat Good
“Eat less and eat good,” is all you need to ensure your heart health. Just take a look at your Iftar plate and you will find all the reasons behind your diseases heart. The oil dripping samosa, the greasy paya, the sugar-filled siqanjabeen, and everything else. This is what you eat and still complain about your heart health.
This Ramadan, keep it healthy and keep it light. You are obviously allowed to treat yourself with a paratha on some days but on others, you will have to avoid all greasy foods. Foods deep-fried in vegetable oil can raise your bad cholesterol, attacking your heart directly.
5. Avoid Heavy Physical Exertion
Patients who had gone under angioplasty (stenting) or by-pass surgery should avoid strenuous physical activity. Heavy exercise causes dehydration which can produce blockage of stents or grafts.
During heated summers, don’t exhaust yourself with work. It can cause a rise in blood pressure in the arteries.
6. Drink A Good Quantity Of Water
During fasting, the major source of health-related problems is dehydration. Make sure to drink a lot of water in Suhoor, Iftar, and non-fasting hours. Water regulates the temperature and pressure of your blood. It also helps in purifying and removing toxins from the blood.
Heart patients are at a much greater risk of cardiac arrests during fasting. It’s best to follow a simple set of instructions to minimize that risk. Plus a good change in routine and diet might prove to be a big step towards an effective treatment.
Book an appointment now, to answer all your queries. You can book an appointment with top cardiologists in Pakistan through Marham by calling at Marham helpline: 0311-1222398 or by online appointment booking facility through the website or Marham mobile app.
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