These past two years after being diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse (I was diagnosed in 2015). I learned a lot of things about Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) and how to cope with it. Because MVP will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
One of the things I learned is the list of foods, beverages, and things that I need to avoid to prevent or at least reduce Mitral Valve Prolapse symptoms from occurring.
There are several foods that I really like that caused MVP symptoms, at first it broke my heart when I knew my favorite food triggered symptoms like palpitations.
Trust me, I learned the hard way that if I want to stay symptoms-free I need to avoid that kind of food.
What Food I Should Avoid if I Mitral Valve Prolapse?
So, here are the food and things you REALLY SHOULD AVOID if you have Mitral Valve Prolapse (with or without regurgitation) if you want want to make your life easier.
1. Cheese
So, here are the food and things you REALLY SHOULD AVOID if you want to make your life easier.
It’s always on my top list because it always triggers skipped beats in my heart. I can feel the effect just a few minutes after eating cheese.
One day, I bought pizzas for my family. I usually only ate the bread and always try to avoid the cheese. But, that day I ate the whole pizza with cheese, the day after tomorrow I still ate several slices of the same pizza.
For the next 7 days, I was having a massive skipped beat in my heart. I never had this kind of massive skipped beat before.
I went to the cardiologist on day 3 and she put me up on a Holter monitor for 24 hours because when I visited her, the skipped beat didn’t appear at all in the EKG.
2. MSG / Monosodium Glutamate
For me, MSG give the same effect as when eating cheese. I would have skipped beats minutes after taking food that contains MSG. The more I ate, the skipped beats will last longer and more frequently.
Over the years, the FDA has received many anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to foods containing MSG.
Because using MSG in foods is a pretty common practice, I always try to be careful when I ate something outside of my house like in cafes and events. If I don’t know if the food contains MSG, I would ask the waitress or the person who sells the food, just to make sure.
Because the effect of MSG on Mitral Valve Prolapse in the patient is also sometimes terrifying.
3. Stress
I often feel MVP symptoms when I’m having stress, the more stress I got the worse it gets. So please, try to stay positive and avoid stress the best you can. It helps in reducing the MVP symptoms.
You can try doing Yoga or practice your breathing to help you control your anger and stress level.
Having a picnic once in a while with your family and loved ones will also make your mind stress free.
Always stay positive no matter what, I know it’s really hard sometimes but if you want to be symptoms free then you really need to get your head stress free.
3. Alcohol
Mitral Valve Prolapse and alcohol are just not matched for each other.
In a Mitral Valve Prolapse support group that I followed, I’ve seen many people complaining their heartbeat will skyrocket after drinking just a small amount of alcohol.
I’ve also read on a medical website that alcohol usually will affect your heart muscle and even it can cause severe dysfunction, usually from moderate to severe ingestion.
4. Coffee, Tea and Caffeine
Coffee and tea contain caffeine, there are three stimulants in coffee and tea that can cause an imbalance in your autonomic nervous system.
For MVP patients, drinking coffee and tea will trigger MVP symptoms such as chest pain, increased heart rate, and also dizziness.
Tips: I always have a bottle of water with me every time I go to an event or go to other places, just in case the event or the place only served coffee, tea or alcohol.
5. Too Much Carbs
Reducing your carbs intake will help keep your blood glucose levels lower, it will also help reduces the spike in adrenaline. Personally, my heart rate would go uphill after eating too many carbohydrates.
That’s why I use a smartwatch to help monitor my heart rate. There is plenty of smartwatches you can choose from on Amazon, I highly recommend Apple Watch or Fitbit. It helps to monitor our heart rate, especially during activities.
| Recommended smartwatch and fitness tracker to monitor your heart rate | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Apple Watch Series 4 Tons of features to monitor your health. Very recommended. | Check on Amazon |
 | Fitbit Inspire Value for money, enough said. | Check on Amazon |
 | Garmin Vívoactive 3 Features are a bit overkill, but it's a nice one to have. | Check on Amazon |
6. Cigarette
No need for too much explanation why cigarette is bad for your heart and lungs.
7. Milk, Dairy Products and Chocolate
I’m not sure if all milk and dairy products will have the same effect but every time I drink fresh milk from one of the famous brands I would feel a bit dizzy for several hours.
It didn’t happen one or twice, it happened several times after I drank the milk. So, I decided to stop drinking milk ever since.
Some articles I found said that low-fat dairy products are still OK for those who have Mitral Valve Prolapse.
8. Soda & Soft Drinks
Drinking soda or soft drinks can increase your blood sugar level. Some soda drinks also have caffeine in them, as we all know caffeine is also bad for Mitral Valve Prolapse patients.
Drinking too much soda can also lead to other health issues such as diabetes, asthma, COPD, and obesity.
Recent research revealed that sweetened soda can lead to heart failure.
9. Fast Food
Fast food can sometimes be addictive for us, to avoid another heart disease it’s important for us that have Mitral Valve Prolapse to eat healthy food.
There’s a medical study that found out that if we consume fast food not that much, let’s say only once a week, it will increase the risk of us dying from coronary heart disease by 20 percent, it’s a big number don’t you think?
You’ll be shocked to know that the risk will go up to 50 percent if we eat fast food 2 or 3 times every week! Crazy, right?
Conclusion
Hope you find this article useful. If you have anything to add about food or things that could trigger MVP symptoms just write it in the comment section.
Stay strong and stay healthy!
8 Comments
I didn’t know cheese can cause arrhythmia. Good article helpful information thanks a bunch!
Thank you.
I would assume the cheese would cause the palpitations because of the high sodium content. Did your Cardio tell you why this caused it?
Can I atleast drink coffee like twice a week? Or will it worsen my MVP?
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you
I drink decaf in the morning end rooi boss tea and water I’m on low carb food but low fat i ise olive oil stay away from high transfat and saturated fat and refined sugar and salt i use pink salt stay away from fast food dont eat cookies and chips in only drink drink o pop if I feel like a cool drink
So, you have a list of things which you think may affect your heart, but there was no medical evidence of any irregular heartbeat.
MVP doesn’t just come and go. I can understand stress or alcohol making your heart beat faster, this creating a larger regurgitative flow and more noticeable pain but not cheese.
Just a note, you may want to edit this and correct the grammar.