Initial Effects of VLCD on Heart Function

[Biggles2]

Crash diets can cause transient deterioration in heart function: Heart disease patients should seek medical advice before adopting a very low calorie diet:

A team from Oxford looked at the cardiac effects of the Newcastle VLCD. The article also includes some interesting information on the visceral fat and metabolic improvements seen in the Newcastle cohort.

The deterioration in heart function is seen in the beginning stages of a VLCD, and does improve after the acute period. However, the guidance is to check with your doctor before embarking on a VLCD or fasting:

‘Dr Rayner said: “If you have heart problems, you need to check with your doctor before embarking on a very low calorie diet or fasting. People with a cardiac problem could well experience more symptoms at this early time point, so the diet should be supervised.”’​

https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Pr...nt-deterioration-in-heart-function?hit=wireek

 

[Guzzler]

I saw this just the other day (I think it was in the Low Cal section of the forum). I remember that the study was small, was it 20/22 people? Nevertheless, it does merit the warning about sudden changes in dietary regime. Good advice to seek guidance from one's HCPs and I would add that easing into any changes is a wiser choice.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

However, after one week, heart fat content had risen by 44%.

44%? Good Grief.

Sometimes friends will say that they have noticed that I've lost weight and I will notice that clothes are looser. Only trouble being that weight has stayed the same and I've always felt that fat "moves" to less obvious places. So long as it hasn't ended up in my heart which was scanned in June 2016 and is OK.

I did check with my GP before embarking on a VLCD and she actually paid me a compliment as being one of the few people she would "trust" to follow a VLCD. Just finished week 6 of my second go although will continue for longer this time in view of the second piece of research done more recently. Delighted with BG control, I can even tolerate a slice of toast (rare treat, I'm human) without BG going too high, better still it returns to the 7's within 30 minutes, very impressive. Slightly disappointed that initial weight loss of 8kgs has now stalled, like it always does after 4 - 6 weeks, hopefully will only last a few weeks or might try fasting as well.

I'm using a replacement called Inflamx (something like that) and loads of vegetables and I don't feel hungry but head needs a lot of control, it's prone to think of the food most people eat without a second thought.

 

[TheBigNewt]

"However, after one week, heart fat content had risen by 44%. This was associated with a deterioration in heart function, including the heart’s ability to pump blood."
First of all while cardiac MRI may be an accurate way to gauge its size and tissue content it's not used as a measure of pumping function, at least not by cardiologists. We estimate the "ejection fraction" either using echocardiography (ultrasound of the contracting heart and moving valves) or via nuclear study (Myoview stress tests). And this excerpt doesn't mention anything about their ejection fraction measurements either.