Routes to a healthy heart:
Tackling diabetes mellitus

Nine simple ways to reduce your risk of another heart attack: Eat a healthy diet Take more exercise Loose excess weight Stop smoking Drink less alcohol Reduce high blood pressure Reduce high cholesterol levels If diabetic, maintain good control of blood glucose levels Keep taking your prescribed medication

People with diabetes are highly vulnerable to heart attacks. If you have diabetes, it's extremely important to work with your physician to manage it as well as possible and to control any other risk factors for heart attack that you have. In particular, it is important to control your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol and stop smoking.

 

Ways to reduce your risk of a heart attack if you have diabetes:

• Reduce high blood pressure
  • Improve your diet
    • reduce your total intake of fatty foods
    • replace foods that contain saturated fats and that are high incholesterol (e.g. red meat and butter) with others containing polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and that are low incholesterol (e.g. chicken and olive oil)
    • reduce your intake of salt to less than 6 grams per day (about one teaspoonful)
    • eat more fruit and vegetables (aim for five portions a day)
    • include more starchy carbohydrates in your diet (aim for up to six servings a day; one serving = one slice of bread or a small potato).
  • Loose any excess weight (NOTE: it is important to discuss your exercise plans with your physician or rehabilitation clinic first)
    • eat a healthy diet (see above)
    • take regular exercise.
• Make sure you take your prescribed medication as directed by your physician
• Reduce your cholesterol level
• Minimize your alcohol consumption
• Stop smoking
• Monitor your blood glucose regularly.

 

Diabetes mellitus

My current blood pressure is:	Date:
My current cholesterol level is:	Date:
My current weight is:	Date:

Use this table to monitor your daily blood glucose levels throughout the week

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Blood glucose level

Tips for a healthy diabetic diet:

• Eat five portions of fruit and/or vegetables every day. Have a piece of fruit or two as a snack, or add vegetables to stir-fried dishes or stews. Raw vegetables make good snacks.
• Eat more starchy carbohydrates such as bread, cereal and starchy vegetables. Aim for up to six portions a day (one portion = one slice of bread or a small potato).
• Eat fish at least twice a week, particularly fatty fish.
• Eat fat-free and low-fat milk products, legumes (beans), skinless poultry and lean meats.
• Eat sugars and sweets in moderation. Include your favourite sweets in your diet once or twice a week at most. Split a dessert with a friend to satisfy your sweet tooth while reducing the sugar, fat and calories.
• Eat less than 6 grams of salt per day (about one teaspoonful). Use salt alternatives sparingly.

Maintaining appropriate blood glucose levels: You can keep your blood glucose at a healthy level if you: Eat about the same amount of food each day Eat at about the same time(s) each day Take your medicines at the same time(s) each day Exercise at the same time(s) each day. You’ll find a lot of useful information on the following website: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/eating_ez/ Check the internet for similar sites based in your country. These sites can be great sources of local information and advice.