our country. The rate of Heart Failure in India increased by nearly 140% from 1990 to 2013. It is predicted that by the year 2020, the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in India might surpass that of any other country in the world. All experts urge people to take care of their heart by paying attention to the early signs and symptoms to ensure early diagnosis. Lifestyle deviation and increasing stress are one of the major reasons that are to be blamed for increasing cases of heart diseases. It is even taking youngsters in its grip. If we take a look at the stats, the mean age of heart failure patients in India is 59 years which is approximately 10 years younger than patients in the United States and Europe. It is indeed scary. We spoke to Dr Sudhir Pillai, Consultant Cardiology, P. D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC and he enlightened us about the various aspects related to heart health. He said, “Activities and diet play a huge role. The wrong habits and mistakes related to diet and lifestyle lead to dangerous heart ailments.” He also said that genetic influence over such disease is comparatively less. Here are a few tips that he shares with us:
1. Refined food or oil is one of the major causes of damaging the heart and are a big no-no. As far as possible refrain from refined food.
2. He opines that “Sugar is the new nicotine”. Especially refined sugar does more harm. It is responsible for major heart health problems.
3. If you think that you are not intaking any sweet as you don’t eat items that are sweet, you must realise most refined foods have sugar.
4. If you consume trans fat it takes 40 50 days for the body to get rid of it. So control the consumption of trans fat.
5. Not all oils have cholesterol.
6. Make sure you read the labels and do not consume things that have excessive calories.
7. Core oils like ghee or coconut oil and mustard oil should be preferred instead of refined oil. They are stable and the chemical composition isn’t destroyed in them, unlike refined oil.
8. You need to know how many calories your body needs. 1200- 1100 calories is enough. Also, along with cutting down the calories, you must also focus on burning the calories you take by exercising and other activities.
9. Sleeping enough is very important. Along with the time, the quality of sleep is important too.
10. Out of the CVDs Indians mostly tend to suffer most from heart blockage.
11. Diabetes can affect the heart a lot and if you area diabetic you must be more careful than the non-diabetics as diabetes affects the heart muscles too.
12. Healthy heart habits should start in the twenties or as early as possible.
13. Our blood vessels start ageing before us. Blockage starts from 20s.
Here’s the detailed interview: