Introduction
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, occurs when your heart does not pump blood well enough to meet your body's needs for oxygen-rich blood. Heart failure is a long-term (chronic) condition. Living with heart failure can be challenging. However, following your health care provider's instructions about a healthy lifestyle and choosing the right foods may help improve your symptoms.
A heart failure eating plan includes cutting down on unhealthy fats, adding more healthy fats, reducing certain nutrients, such as sodium, and making other small changes to your diet. It is recommended that you stay at a healthy body weight to help keep fat (lipid) levels within a normal range. Contact your health care provider before …show more content…
General guidelines
Avoid eating more than 2,300 mg of salt (sodium) a day. If you have high blood pressure (hypertension), you may need to reduce your daily sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.
Limit alcohol intake to no more than 1 drink a day for nonpregnant women and 2 drinks a day for men. One drink equals 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, or 1½ oz of hard liquor.
Ask your health care provider what a healthy body weight is for you. Work with him or her to lose some weight, if needed, and to stay at your ideal weight.
Work with your health care provider or diet and nutrition specialist (dietitian) to adjust your eating plan to your individual calorie needs.
Limit foods that are high in starch and sugar.
Eat more home-cooked food and less restaurant, buffet, and fast food.
Eat more foods that contain soluble fiber. Aim to get 20–30 grams of fiber per day. Examples of foods that contain this type of fiber are:
Apples.
Broccoli. …show more content…
Very low sodium - 35 mg or less in a serving.
Low sodium - 140 mg or less in a serving.
Reduced sodium - 25% less sodium in a serving compared to the regular product.
Light in sodium or lightly salted - 50% less sodium in a serving compared to the regular product.
To find whole grains, look for the word "whole" as the first word in the ingredient list.
Cooking
Avoid adding salt when cooking. Use salt-free seasonings or herbs instead of table salt or sea salt. Check with your health care provider before using salt substitutes.
Cook with heart-healthy oils, such as olive, canola, soybean, or sunflower oil.
Do not fry foods. Cook foods using healthy methods such as baking, boiling, grilling, and broiling instead. Other ways to reduce fat in your diet include:
Removing the skin from poultry.
Removing all visible fats from meats.
Skimming the fat off stews, soups, and gravies before serving them.
Steaming vegetables in water or broth.
Meal planning
Eat a balanced diet that includes:
At least 5 servings each day of fruits and vegetables. Try to fill half of your plate at each meal with fruits and vegetables.
Up to 6–8 servings each day of whole