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Low heart rate related to diet?
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Apr 22, 2020 | Replies (12)Comment receiving replies
I don't know if it's very accurate but I sleep with my Applewatch which tracks your heart rate and I was getting "alerts" on it saying that my HR was going below 40 while I was sleeping (37,38,39). My resting HR is around 50 during the day (again according to my Applewatch). Referring to your question about the under-eating, my doctor believes that the low HR is a result of under-eating NOW. This is where I am confused and frustrated because my weight is healthy and I do not feel like I am under-eating. I have received help from dietitians in the past and I believe I have corrected any issues with my diet since my habits of disordered eating occurred. (I used to be quite underweight and have been in a healthy range for a couple of years now.) I guess the thing that bothers me most is that they are only looking at my HR and ignoring the fact that my EKG is normal. I think they are only blaming it on under-eating because of my history, but it just doesn't make sense at this point given some of the things I've mentioned.
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Hi @abbyd13,
An excessively slow heartbeat can mean that your heart does not deliver enough oxygen and other nutrients throughout your body.
If you’ve followed an unbalanced or calorically low diet long enough for your body to adapt to a malnourished state, resuming a normal diet (weight cycling) can cause your phosphorus, magnesium and potassium levels to drop. This leads to a higher risk of heart failure, heart attack or stroke, according to new research published in the American Heart Association’s journal:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.034978
I thought you might be interested in reading some key notes from the study –
To measure the effect that weight cycling can have on the body, researchers tracked 6,748,773 people from 2005 to 2012. Participants were generally healthy at the start of the study, did not suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or previous heart attacks. By the end of the study, 54,785 people had died, 22,498 had a stroke, and 21,452 had a heart attack.
Those whose weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels fluctuated, were 127 percent more likely to die, 43 percent more likely to have a heart attack, and 41 percent more likely to have a stroke.
According to the senior author of the same study, if doctors detect any variability, it may be time to step in and assess the patient’s eating patterns and lifestyle habits.
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/yo-yoing-weight-blood-pressure-cholesterol-and-blood-sugar-readings-may-raise-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk
I hope this sheds more light on why your doctor is concerned about your diet, @abbyd13?