Zulfiqar Rana, MD, MPH, FACP
Board Certified in Internal Medicine
Diets and disease
Click to download the handouts.
Cardiac Diet: Heart-healthy diet 8 steps from the Mayo Clinic 
Although you might know eating certain foods can increase your heart disease risk, it’s
often tough to change your eating habits. Whether you have years of unhealthy eating
under your belt or you simply want to fine-tune your diet, here are eight heart-healthy
diet tips. Once you know which foods to eat more of and which foods to limit, you’ll be
on your way toward a heart-healthy diet.
Diabetic Diet: Eating and Diabetes from the NIDDK 
Healthful eating helps keep your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, in your target range. Physical activity and, if needed, diabetes medicines also help. The diabetes target range is the blood glucose level suggested by diabetes experts for good health. You can help prevent health problems by keeping your blood glucose levels on target.
Hypertension Diet: The new_DASH diet 
This booklet, based on the DASH research findings, tells how to follow the DASH eating plan and reduce the amount of sodium you consume. It offers tips on how to start and stay on the eating plan, as well as a week of menus and some recipes.
Acid Reflux: Anti-reflux diet 
Patients often have questions about what kind of diet to follow when they have acid reflux, heartburn or stomach ulcers. Here is a simple handout to answer your basic questions.
Bottom line: Caffeinated drinks, carbonated drinks, greasy or fatty foods, spicy food, citrus fruits and juices, tomatoes or anything tomato-based, onions, peppermint, chocolate, alcohol, nicotine (cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco).
The FODMAP diet from Johns Hopkins (external link)
You may have heard of the FODMAP diet from a friend or on the internet. When people say “FODMAP diet,” they usually mean a diet low in FODMAP — certain sugars that may cause intestinal distress. This diet is designed to help people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and/or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) figure out which foods are problematic and which foods reduce symptoms.
Gluten-free diet (external link)
A gluten-free diet excludes any foods that contain gluten, which is a protein found in wheat and several other grains. It means eating only whole foods that don’t contain gluten, such as fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs, as well as processed gluten-free foods like gluten-free bread or pasta.
Foods to watch when you are on Coumadin/ Warfarin (external link)
Warfarin is a blood-thinning medication that helps treat and prevent blood clots. There is no specific warfarin diet. However, certain foods and beverages can make warfarin less effective in preventing blood clots. It’s important to pay attention to what you eat while taking warfarin.