From this article you will learn: what should be the diet for varicose veins. Why do some products help to cope with the disease, and others lead to a deterioration of well-being.
Therapeutic nutrition with varicose increases the effectiveness of medicines. Medications will be useless if a person continues to consume foods and drinks that adversely affect the condition of the vessels.
Diet for all types of varicose veins (legs, pelvic organs, esophagus and stomach) is the same. At the visit to the doctor-phlebologist – a specialist in vein diseases – the patient, along with recommendations for taking medications, receives a memo with a list of permitted and prohibited products.
With the help of diet alone, getting rid of varicose is impossible, but proper nutrition is necessary to prevent the progression of the disease.
What Will You Learn
Objectives of dietary nutrition for varicose veins
Nutrition for varicose veins (for all its types) has the following objectives:
- Strengthening the vascular walls – vitamins and trace elements reduce vascular permeability, increase the elasticity of veins, have anti-inflammatory effect. The use of foods rich in useful ingredients improves the condition of the vessels in varicose veins.
- Reducing blood viscosity – with varicose veins, blood flow slows down, and the risk of blood clots increases. Therefore, with any localization of the changes, it is necessary to comply with the drinking regime and avoid dehydration.
- Reduction of edema of tissues – fluid retention in the body leads to the development of edema – one of the main symptoms of varicose veins of the lower extremities.
- Fighting obesity – the overweight of the patient leads to increased pressure in the vessels of the legs and is considered one of the main provoking factors in the development of varicose veins.
- Normalization of the intestine – regular constipation leads to the accumulation of toxic substances in the body, which have a negative effect on the state of the vessels; the pressure in the veins of the small pelvis and lower limbs increases, the load on the venous walls increases.
Diet with varicose veins – what you can eat:
- Vegetables should form the basis of a patient’s diet with varicose veins. Especially useful: cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, sweet peppers, beets. Daily on the table should be salads of fresh vegetables, seasoned with vegetable oil, vegetable side dishes.
- Fruits: citrus fruits, apples, pears, cherries, cherries, apricots.
- Berries: cranberries, blueberries and cranberries, raspberries.
- Fish and seafood are a good alternative to meat dishes: shrimp, mussels, squid.
- Low-fat varieties of meat: beef, pork, chicken and rabbit. A useful product for varicose is beef liver.
- Nuts: almonds and hazelnuts are added to cereals; Chopped nutmeg is used as a seasoning for dishes.
- Cereals contain carbohydrates, which provide the body with energy. With varicose preference given to brown long-grain rice and buckwheat, rich in plant fiber and trace elements.
- Legumes: peas, soybeans.
- Greens: parsley spinach, sorrel.
- Honey is recommended to take as an additive to tea, cereal in 2-3 tablespoons a day. Chestnut honey is especially useful for varicose veins. Chestnut extract is a part of the preparation “Escuzan”, which is often prescribed to patients with varicose veins.
- Eggs.
A diet with varicose means taking a lot of fluids. The most useful beverages:
- green tea;
- natural fruit and vegetable juices;
- fruit berries;
- compotes;
- ginger tea;
- herbal teas (currant leaves, mint, melissa);
- ordinary still water;
- drink with apple cider vinegar.
Drink recipe with apple cider vinegar
In a glass of warm water add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, honey to taste, stir well. Take during the day after a meal.
Four tablespoons of chopped ginger and a peel of one lemon pour a liter of steep boiling water, cover, give for half an hour, cool down to a comfortable temperature, add honey to taste.
List of prohibited foods and drinks in varicose veins
With varicose veins, food and drinks that contribute to fluid retention in the body, weight gain and negatively affect the veins fall under the ban.
- Alcohol – alcohol dilates blood vessels, the fluid from the cells goes into the intercellular space, the metabolism is disrupted, the patient’s state of health worsens: the heaviness and pains in the legs become worse.
- Smoked meat, marinades – lead to fluid retention.
- Sturdy broths, cold – contain a large number of extractives, increase the viscosity of the blood.
- Fatty grades of meat – refractory fats increase the cholesterol content, increase the viscosity of the blood.
- All types of canned food – dyes and preservatives, included in their composition have a toxic effect on the vessels
- Buns, tori, chocolate – contains a large number of easily assimilated carbohydrates, so it is forbidden to patients with excess weight. In the absence of obesity, these products can be consumed in limited quantities.
- Sharp seasonings – negatively affect the blood vessels.
- Salted foods – salt helps to delay fluid and the appearance of edema on the legs. Food is prepared without salt, a small amount of it is added immediately before meals.
- Coffee, black tea – drinks, contraindicated for all diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including in varicose veins.
- Chicory – this drink is often used as a replacement for coffee patients with hypertension, but since it dilates the blood vessels, with varicose veins it can not be used.
The stronger the symptoms of the disease are in the patient, the more severely the diet should be with varicose veins.
Breakfast: milk rice porridge with nuts or fruits, a glass of ginger tea.
Lunch: salad of fresh vegetables, seasoned with sunflower oil.
Lunch: low-fat chicken soup, potatoes in uniform, steam chicken cutlet, green tea.
Snack: a glass of yogurt with fruit, a biscuit biscuit.
Dinner: boiled buckwheat, baked fish. Fruit juice.
Patients with varicose veins should be constantly observed by a phlebologist. Drug treatment is carried out by courses. The diet must always be observed. When the doctor’s recommendations are implemented, about 80% of patients with early stages of the disease completely restore their efficiency. Rough eating disorders (drinking alcohol, a large number of animal fats and other prohibited foods) often lead to relapses.