Diet after stroke fact sheet — Stroke Foundation

What you need to know

• After a stroke it might be harder to get
  all the nutrients you need.
• Your speech pathologist can recommend
  strategies to help you eat and drink
  safely.
• Your dietitian can help make sure you are
  getting adequate nutrition.
• Healthy eating can improve your health
  and reduce your risk of having another
  stroke.

About poor nutrition

After a stroke, you may have :

• Problems using your arm or hand, making it
  difficult to eat and drink.
• Problems with memory and thinking, which
  might mean you forget to eat and drink.
• Loss of appetite – you may not feel hungry.
• Swallowing problems, which are also called
  dysphagia.

These difficulties may make it difficult to get all the nutrients you need. This can slow down your recovery .
If you have problems with your arm or hand, or with your memory and intelligent, an occupational therapist can help with aids and with strategies to help you remember. If you have dysphagia, a speech diagnostician can recommend strategies to help you eat and drink safely. You may need food and drinks with a different consistency .

Improving nutrition

A dietician can help make certain you are getting adequate nutrition. This may mean having detail types of foods and drinks, eating more or less food and taking nutritional supplements.

Guidelines for healthy eating

The australian Dietary Guidelines provide information about healthy feed for everybody .
Enjoy a wide-eyed kind of alimentary foods from these five food groups every day :

• Plenty of vegetables of different types and
  colours, legumes and beans.
• Fruit.
• Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and
  high fibre varieties such as breads, cereals,
  rice, pasta, noodles, polenta, couscous,
  oats, quinoa and barley.
• Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu,
  nuts, seeds, legumes and beans.
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese and their alternatives
  – mostly reduced fat.

And drink enough of urine .
Limit intake of foods containing saturated
fat, added salt and added sugars:

• Limit foods high in saturated fat such as
  biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed
  meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried
  foods, potato chips, crisps and other
  savoury snacks.
• Limit foods which contain mostly saturated
  fats such as butter, cream, cooking
  margarine, coconut oil and palm oil.
• Limit foods and drinks containing added
  salt.
• Limit foods and drinks containing added
  sugars such as confectionery, sugarsweetened
  soft drinks and cordials, fruit
  drinks, vitamin waters, energy drinks and
  sports drinks.

Healthy eating after stroke

fruit and vegetables contain antioxidants, which can help reduce damage to blood vessels. They besides contain potassium which can help control rake pressure .
The fiber in fruit vegetables can lower cholesterol. Folate – which is found in greens leafy vegetables – may reduce the risk of throw. Wholegrains and cereals besides contain fibre and vitamin bc .
Dairy foods are another reservoir of potassium, along with calcium, which can besides help control blood atmospheric pressure. Alternatives to dairy include calcium-enriched soy sauce or rice milks. other sources of calcium include fish with bones, almonds and bean curd .
Things to limit after stroke are :
Salt. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure. Read labels and choose lower salt options. Don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate add salt when fudge or at the table. Use herb and spices to increase relish rather. If you reduce your consumption gradually, your taste bud will adjust in a few weeks.

Sugar. Too much sugar can damage blood vessels. Read labels and choose lower sugar options. even foods you may not think of as sugary can have added boodle .
Saturated fats. These cause high cholesterol. Eat largely polyunsaturated and monounsaturated oils and spreads. Try nut butters or avocado .
Alcohol. Drinking excessively much alcohol contributes to a number of accident hazard factors, including eminent lineage coerce. healthy men and women should have no more than two criterion drinks a day. After a stroke, your doctor can advise when it is safe for you to start drinking alcohol again and how much it is safe for you to drink .

More Help

The health professionals at StrokeLine provide information, advice, support and referral. StrokeLine ’ s virtual and confidential advice will help you manage your health better and exist good .
Call 1800 STROKE ( 1800 787 653 )
Email strokeline @ strokefoundation.org.au
Join Australia ’ s on-line stroke community with videos, fact sheets, resources and patronize for stroke survivors, their kin and friends .
enableme.org.au
Make certain your dietician is an accredit Practising Dietitian. contact :

Dietitians Association of Australia
1800 812 942 www.daa.asn.au
Australian Dietary Guidelines www.eatforhealth.gov.au
For more information visit the EnableMe resource subject on Food and nutrition