Diet After Open Heart Surgery—What Should You Eat and Avoid?
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.
You’ve just had open heart surgery—maybe it was scheduled ahead of time or maybe it was unplanned and a shock. Or maybe a loved one or good friend has just gone through that surgery. Lots of questions may be running through your mind, and one of them may be “What should my diet look like after open heart surgery?”
If that’s you, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll cover some basics of what to eat and what to avoid after a big surgery like a bypass. As a side note—most of this information can also be used if you’ve had other heart procedures done, like a stent placed.
Quick disclaimer—although I am a registered dietitian nutritionist, your reading of this or any articles on this website does not constitute medical nutrition therapy advice nor create a practitioner-client relationship. The information I provide here on this website is for educational and informational purposes only. Please see my full disclaimer for more information.
What Should I Eat Immediately After Open Heart Surgery?
Right after heart surgery, you may notice several changes. One change is a decrease in appetite—nothing feels good to eat. Some people may experience nausea or taste changes.
Sometimes foods that used to be favorite foods don’t even taste the same anymore. But right after surgery, the important thing is to try to eat whatever tastes good. Some strategies to consider are:
- eating smaller amounts more often during the day
- drinking a protein shake (like Boost or Ensure or Glucerna)
- avoiding foods that don’t smell or taste good to you
Eating for Wound Healing
It’s also important to know that eating to help with wound healing is a big deal after surgery. Getting enough calories, protein, and certain vitamins and minerals can help your surgical site heal (1).
First, oral nutrition supplements can add both extra calories and protein in during the day. This may help if you’re not able to eat as much as you usually would. You may want to drink 1-2 of these shakes a day to get the most benefit.
Second, foods high in protein to help with wound healing include:
- meat
- poultry
- fish
- dairy products
- nuts and seeds
- legumes (beans)
- soy foods
- some whole grains (such as quinoa)
Third, some foods to help you get in more calories include:
- full fat dairy products (like whole milk)
- fat sources (nuts and seeds, oils)
Last, some vitamins and minerals will help with wound healing—vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, and zinc (1).
Examples of foods high in Vitamin A (2):
- sweet potatoes
- carrots
- red peppers
- spinach
- apricots
Examples of foods high in Vitamin C (3):
- red and green peppers
- oranges and orange juice
- kiwi
- strawberries
- broccoli
- tomatoes and tomato juice
Examples of foods high in iron (4):
- lentils
- fortified breakfast cereals
- spinach
- dark chocolate
- canned sardines
- raisins
- beef
Examples of foods high in zinc (5):
- pork loin
- oats
- beef
- oysters
- sardines
Try to include a source of protein/healthy fat and carbohydrate at each meal and snack. You could try an apple with peanut butter, cottage cheese and peaches, a tuna sandwich, etc.
Now that we’ve covered foods for wound healing, let’s move on to foods to choose and avoid to keep your heart healthy.
Making Healthier Food Choices Long Term After Open Heart Surgery
After you’ve followed the tips to help your incision site heal, you can start to work on eating more heart healthy. Foods to choose in your diet after open heart surgery are as follows (6):
Lean meats | e.g. sirloin, 5-10% lean ground beef, chuck roast, pork loin, pork chops with fat removed |
Poultry without skin | both white and dark meat—remove skin before eating |
Fish | e.g. salmon, sardines, tuna—aim for reduced sodium canned or fresh/frozen |
Eggs | may have a few whole eggs per week |
Low fat/reduced fat dairy | e.g. milk, yogurt, cheese |
Nuts and seeds | e.g. unsalted nut and seed butters; raw, unsalted nuts/seeds; flaxseed, chia seeds |
Legumes/beans | e.g. dried or reduced sodium canned (rinse before using) |
Fruits | fresh or frozen with no added sugar; avoid syrups if buying canned |
Vegetables | fresh or frozen without extra sauces/flavorings; no salt added if canned, or reduced sodium and rinse before using |
Soy products | e.g. plain tofu, soy milk (unsweetened) |
Whole grains | e.g. brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, whole wheat or whole grain bread, plain popcorn |
Plant oils (mostly unsaturated) | e.g. olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil |
If at all possible, try to cook more/prepare food more at home—that way you are in control of what you’re eating.
Now that we’ve touched on foods to choose, let’s talk about foods to avoid or cut back on for the long term.
Foods to Avoid After Open Heart Surgery
While it’s helpful to talk about foods to eat after heart surgery, it’s also important to know what to avoid. Some of these foods are foods high in saturated and/or trans fats, foods high in sugar, and foods high in sodium.
Foods High in Saturated and/or Trans Fats
Foods high in saturated fat include:
- fattier cuts of meat (such as steak with a large amount of marbling)
- full fat dairy
- coconut and coconut oil
- palm oil
- butter
Fried foods may contain harmful trans fats which can block arteries. Some pre-packaged foods may also contain trans fat. This may show up as partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list.
Foods High in Sugar
Foods high in sugar include items like cakes, cookies, candies, sweet breads, pastries, muffins, and donuts. This doesn’t mean that these foods are totally off limits. But avoiding them most of the time will allow you to focus on getting in as much nutrition to your body as possible through other more nutritious foods.
Foods High in Sodium
Foods high in sodium may cause you to retain excess fluid, which may not be very helpful for your heart. Oftentimes restaurant foods can contain a large amount of sodium. Using the salt shaker can add to extra sodium intake as well.
Some packaged foods (such as pasta or rice boxes with flavoring packets, cured meats, frozen meals, and frozen pizzas) can contain a large amount of sodium. Not all foods in these categories do, and that is where label reading comes in handy. But as a general rule, these categories are a good place to start when looking for high sodium foods.
Now that we’ve discussed foods to avoid most of the time, let’s talk about other foods you may need to avoid if you take certain medications.
Foods to Limit or Avoid Due to Interactions with Cardiac-Related Medications
Because they may change the way some medications work, you may need to limit some foods after open heart surgery. These foods are grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and foods that are high in Vitamin K (7,8).
Grapefruit
Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may change the way certain heart medications work in the body. Be sure to check with your doctor and pharmacist for further information. Examples of these medications are as follows (7):
- some heart rhythm medications (such as amiodarone)
- some blood pressure medications (such as nifedipine)
- some statin medications (such as atorvastatin)
Foods High in Vitamin K
Foods high in Vitamin K interact with the blood thinner coumadin, also known as warfarin. You may need to limit the amount of these foods that you eat to avoid big changes in your INR lab value (8). Check with your doctor, pharmacist, and warfarin clinic team about your INR. Foods high in Vitamin K are as follows (9):
- spinach
- broccoli
- kale
- collard greens
- turnip greens
Now that we’ve discussed foods that may interact with medications, let’s move on to the last piece of this article—what to drink.
Hydration/Beverages After Open Heart Surgery
Avoiding some foods when taking certain medications is very important. But beverage choices after open heart surgery are also important to help you stay healthy.
Drinking plenty of water is one of the best choices you can make. If possible, water should make up the majority of your beverages during the day.
A method to help you figure out how much fluid you may need per day is as follows: take your body weight in pounds and divide it by 2. This tells you the amount of ounces of fluid to try to drink in a day.
Caffeine is another issue to consider—ask your doctor what a safe amount of caffeine to drink per day is. Check with your doctor or pharmacist to see if caffeine will interact with any of your medications.
Another consideration is to cut back on sugary or sugar-sweetened beverages, which usually provide only empty calories. Foods and drinks that provide empty calories usually aren’t very nutritious. Excess sugar may hinder proper wound healing (1) and lead to weight gain if too much of it is consumed.
You may wish to try some beverages with artificial or lower calorie natural sweeteners. It’s important, however, to balance these beverages out with water. You can add a splash of fruit juice or even flavor drops to help improve the taste of water.
Herbal teas or regular/decaf unsweetened teas may also be helpful to get in adequate fluid daily. Check with your doctor about caffeine in non-herbal teas.
Check with your doctor and/or other healthcare professionals to see whether beverages with caffeine are appropriate for you after open heart surgery.
The Heart Health Dietitian
Conclusion
In this post, we’ve covered quite a bit information:
- what to expect right after open heart surgery
- what to eat for wound healing
- foods to choose and avoid
- foods to limit because of certain medications
- and types of beverages to drink
Hopefully this information was helpful to you. The goal of this post is to help you understand what to eat and avoid after open heart surgery.
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for the email newsletter to be notified of future blog posts! Thanks for reading!
Sources
- Cleveland Clinic. What to Eat When You’re Trying to Heal. Cleveland Clinic Web site. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/foods-to-help-healing/. Published January 31, 2023. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin A and Carotenoids: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health Web site. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/. Published June 15, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin C: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health Web site. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/. Published March 26, 2021. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health Web site. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/. Published April 5, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health Web site. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/. Published September 28, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- Mayo Clinic Staff. Heart-Healthy Diet: 8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease. Mayo Clinic Web site. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-healthy-diet/art-20047702. Published April 28, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Grapefruit Juice and Some Drugs Don’t Mix. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/grapefruit-juice-and-some-drugs-dont-mix. Published July 1, 2021. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- American Heart Association Staff. A Patient’s Guid to Taking Warfarin. American Heart Association Web site. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/arrhythmia/prevention–treatment-of-arrhythmia/a-patients-guide-to-taking-warfarin. Published November 17, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2023.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health Web site. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminK-HealthProfessional/. Published March 29, 2021. Accessed May 6, 2023.
About the Author