Does heart failure determine the nutrition of patients?

Background: Studies of the diet of heart failure (HF) patients, available in the literature, indicate that this diet is highly inadequate in light of the existing recommendations.

Aim: To assess the nutrition of middle-aged patients with HF compared to a control group representing the general population without HF.

Methods: The study group comprised 70 patients with diagnosed HF, below 65 years, with NYHA class I/II/III. For the control group, we selected members of the general population with identical sex, age, body mass index and cigarette smoking parameters as the tested persons. Diet was evaluated on the basis of a dietary questionnaire and a 24-h dietary recall.

Results: The energy/ideal body weight ratio was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (p < 0.005). Patients with HF had lower % kcal from fat, SAFA, MUFA (p < 0.05), omega-3 (p < 0.05), folic acid (p < 0.001) and dietary fibre (p < 0.01) consumption compared to the control group. No intergroup differences were found in the consumption of vitamins B6, C, A or E. The lowest energy, dietary fibre and vitamins intake (except vitamin A) was found in patients in NYHA class III.

Conclusions: The diet of patients with HF seems to differ from the diet of persons without HF. These differences are manifested in a lower energy content of diet, lower intake of total fat, omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid and dietary fibre. Most patients with HF have ischaemic aetiology, and therefore should apply the dietary recommendations for patients with dyslipidaemia and high cardiovascular risk. However, their diet for certain parameters was inconsistent with ESC/EAS guidelines (high intake of saturated fatty acids, low intake of dietary fibre).