Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
When it comes to diet and nutrition, there are countless gurus and influencers claiming they have the best advice, but the truth is, depending on your overall health, some diets are just downright dangerous. If you have any heart or vascular conditions, you need to caution this type of advice and speak to your vascular surgeon about what’s best for you.
For example, many people are jumping on the ketogenic bandwagon, and while it’s beneficial for some individuals, it can wreak havoc on the endothelial and arterial walls if done improperly. Saturated fats, processed meats, and dairy might sound delicious, but they can be detrimental to vascular health and cause excessive plaque to form in the arteries throughout the body. If you want to limit simple carbs like bread, pasta, chips, and cookies, that’s a fantastic idea and can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of chronic disease.
There is no one magic diet, but avoiding added sugars, white flour, packaged foods, and snacks is a great way to feel better, increase energy and reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and vascular disease.
When it comes to a healthy diet, it’s not just what we avoid that’s important, but it’s also critical to eat a healthy diet the majority of the time. Increasing your intake of fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits is a great way to increase fiber, phytonutrients, and numerous vitamins into your diet. This will feed your cells and can even help to reduce some of the damage that may have taken placeover the years. It’s also wise to include lean proteins. These can be plant-based or animal products, or a combination of both. Things like finfish, shellfish, nuts, seeds, and legumes are an excellent choice to feed and nourish your body.
It’s also important not to go FAT-FREE. Yes, you may think all vascular surgeons favor fat-free diets, but those old ways of thinking are outdated. It’s important to avoid most saturated fats, but eating healthy fats is vital for the body to function properly. Foods like olives, avocados, walnuts, and extra virgin olive oil are full of essential nutrients and fatty acids that we need to thrive optimally.
There have been several recent studies on the effects of the Mediterranean Diet and Heart disease. Although the results vary somewhat, in the end, after following patients for several years, those on a Mediterranean style diet have a significantly less incidence of heart disease and vascular disease. With an emphasis on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado, the Mediterranean diet is helpful in reducing “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) and triglycerides, which can build up plaque in the blood vessels and increase the risk of vascular disease. The Mediterranean and similar diets also show that it has the most impact on those with high blood pressure, high lipid counts (cholesterol, triglycerides), diabetes, and obesity.
If you or a loved one has any of the venous or arterial symptoms or risk factor discussed above, you must seek medical attention immediately. Making an appointment with a vascular surgeon specializing in arterial and venous disease is critical.
Vascular & Vein Center at Gulfcoast Surgeons
The Vascular and Vein Center at Gulfcoast Surgeons is one of the first and most respected vein clinics in Southwest Florida. Their surgeons, Dr. Abraham Sadighi, Dr. Michael Novotney, and Dr. Johan Escribano, have performed thousands of vascular and vein surgeries over the past 28 years.
They focus on diseases of the vascular system that can range from harmless but unattractive spider veins to dangerous conditions such as peripheral artery disease. Their caring and dedicated team will help you identify problems and offer the best treatment options for you.
The Vascular and Vein Center at Gulfcoast Surgeons offer a fully equipped vascular lab and state-of-the-art Angio suite to provide a higher level of service and care for their patients. You’ll find comfort in knowing that they have a long-standing reputation for positive surgical outcomes that allow you to get back to healthy living.
Call the Vascular & Vein Center at Gulfcoast Surgeons today at (239) 344-7061 to make an appointment with a vascular surgeon who specializes in arteries and veins.
Vascular & Vein Center
Fort Myers
8010 Summerlin Lakes Dr., Suite 100
Fort Myers, Florida 33907
Cape Coral
1003 Del Prado Blvd., Suite 303
Cape Coral, Florida 33990
Bonita Springs
24301 Walden Center Dr., Suite 102
Bonita Springs, Florida 34134
Idisease is critical
