Diet And Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure occurs when the heart does not pump efficiently and does not deliver enough oxygen to your body. Many diseases lead to CHF, such as high blood pressure and diseases of the heart and kidney.
Treatment for CHF helps to prevent its complications and relieve its symptoms.
The heart does not have to work as hard when you make some changes in your diet. If you eat too much salt or drink too much fluid, your body’s water content may increase and make your heart work harder. This can worsen your CHF. The following diet will help decrease some of your symptoms.
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Medical News Todayonly shows you brands and products that we stand behind.
- Evaluate ingredients and composition:Do they have the potential to cause harm?
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- Assess the brand:Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?
- Low sodium meals for older adults:Magic Kitchen, Silver Cuisine
- Low sodium meals for people with celiac disease:Fresh n Lean
- Low sodium meals for weight loss:Balance, My Metabolic Meals
- Low sodium meals for those with certain healthcare plans: Moms Meals
This article discusses why low sodium diets are healthy and explores some delivery services that offer low sodium meal plans.
Please note that the writer of this article has not tried these products. All information presented is purely research-based and correct at the time of publication.
Medical News Today follows a strict product selection and vetting process. Learn more here.
Heart Healthy Meals Delivered
MealPro’s portion controlled heart healthy meal delivery plan supports you with low sodium, low fat and low cholesterol meals. Your heart healthy meals are cooked fresh daily by a team of cardiologists and cooks. Your food is made delicious by using zero-calorie herb, and zero-salt spices as flavor enhancers – making this a tasty heart healthy meal plan you can savor and enjoy. All your ingredients are natural and we only use lean cuts of animal proteins to give you the low cholesterol.
Picture shows gourmet heart healthy fish fillet meal with aromatic flavors extracted from zero-salt herbs & spices.
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Tips For Reducing Sodium Consumption
Your body is constantly trying to strike the perfect balance between electrolytes, including sodium, and water. When you consume a lot of sodium, your body hangs on to extra water to balance it. For most people, this just results in some bloating and mild discomfort.
However, people with CHF already have extra fluid in their bodies, which makes fluid retention a more serious health concern. Doctors generally recommend that people with CHF limit their sodium intake to about 2,000 milligrams per day. This is slightly less than 1 teaspoon of salt.
While this might seem like a hard amount to limit yourself to, there are several easy steps you can take to eliminate extra salt from your diet without sacrificing flavor.
Can You Drink Coffee If You Have Congestive Heart Failure
According to recent studies, as noted by the American Heart Association, drinking one or more cups of caffeinated coffee may reduce the risk of heart failure. But other studies noted that drinking several cups throughout the day may not be safe. When in doubt, talk to your cardiologist and nutritionist about the amount of coffee you can drink.
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Why You Should Trust Us
Every meal delivery service on our list has been reviewed by registered dietitians and vetted to ensure that it aligns with Healthlines brand integrity standards and approach to well-being. Each service in this article:
- is in compliance with the USDA and FDA food safety and manufacturing regulations
- uses a trusted shipper to handle its food products
- lists all ingredients, allergens, and nutrition facts its website or product packaging
- promotes a healthy approach to well-being
- does not make unsupported health claims on its website or marketing materials
- Price: starts at $9.99 per serving
- Shipping: free on your first order, $9.99 shipping fee after
- Delivery area: ships to most zip codes in the United States, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico
- Sodium per serving: varies, but most are under 800 mg
- Who its best for: people who want to cook but with less prep people looking for organic ingredients
- Subscription: flexible, minimum 4 servings per week
- Customization: many a la carte options available diet and ingredient preferences can be filtered
- Meal plans offered: Paleo, Vegetarian, Lean & Clean, Gluten-Free, Carb-Conscious, Mediterranean, Diabetes-Friendly, Pescatarian, Fresh & Ready
Sunbasket is a popular certified organic meal delivery company. Unlike other subscription services, Sunbasket offers both meal kits and heat-and-eat meals.
The meal kits include preportioned ingredients and recipe instructions to create the meals.
Get Rid Of The Salt Shaker
When it comes to reducing salt in your diet, out of sight, out of mind is an effective approach. Simply getting rid of the salt shaker in your kitchen or on the dinner table can make a big impact.
Need some motivation? One shake of salt contains about 250 mg of sodium, which is one-eighth of your daily intake.
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Who Is This Heart Healthy Food Delivery Service For
At MealPro, our goal is to support you on a journey to better health by providing a delicious menu of heart healthy meals and exceptional dining experience. Doctors recommend us to people with heart disease in order to mitigate the chance of complications. This heart healthy diet plan is perfect for you if:
Your doctor recommended a diet change after suffering a heart attack.
You are a clean eater dedicated to wholesome foods – or want to be.
You have a heart condition, or high blood pressure.
You find you are retaining too much water and need to limit sodium intake.
You don’t settle for a standard meal – you expect world class culinary professionals to put a gourmet touch on your meal.
You refuse to eat bland heart healthy food at high prices. You expect your heart healthy food to be delicious and affordable.
Congestive Heart Failure Diet: What To Avoid Meal Plan And More
Congestive heart failure , or simply heart failure, is a condition in which your heart doesnt fill with blood or pump blood as it should.
The condition can cause fluid buildup in your body, causing shortness of breath or trouble breathing, fatigue, and swelling in the arms, legs, and stomach.
In combination with medications, diet plays an important role in managing your symptoms and reducing your risk of other health complications.
This article explains what to eat and avoid with CHF and provides a sample CHF diet menu.
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Best Value: Moms Meals
- Starting Price: $7.99 per serving
- Delivery Area: 48 states
- Products Arrive: Frozen
Our testers loved the variety of health conditions that Mom’s Meals accommodates, and the flexible pricing options make it work for folks who want to leverage healthcare plans to pay for meals.
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Covered by some Medicare and Medicaid plans
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Options for many health conditions
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No subscription required
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Smaller size portions
Moms Meals is our pick for the best budget-friendly low sodium meals because this service has the option to have meals covered by certain Medicare Advantage or Medicaid plans, making them more financially accessible than most other services weve seen. The meals are refrigerated, heat-and-eat options full of comfort food classics and can be purchased on a recurring or one-time basis.
Learn More:Read Our Mom’s Meals Review.
Meals cost an affordable $7.99 each, with renal-friendly, pureed, and gluten-free meals slightly higher at $8.99. Customers may also be eligible to utilize health plans like Medicare and Medicaid to cover the cost of their meals.
Congestive Heart Failure Increases Fluid Retention
With heart failure, your heart pumps less blood than it otherwise would if it was healthy, causing a decrease in blood pressure.
To compensate for reduced blood flow, your heart beats faster, your veins constrict, and your kidneys retain water to maintain proper blood circulation .
Over time, these compensatory methods to maintain proper blood circulation to your bodys tissues cause fluid buildup or congestion in and around organs such as the lungs, ankles, and feet.
This fluid accumulates gradually over time, causing shortness of breath and swelling in your lower legs. Your doctor may prescribe you medications to reduce fluid buildup, but eating the right diet can also help.
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Mayo Clinic Q And A: Congestive Heart Failure And Diet
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My doctor told me that I have congestive heart failure and I have to change my lifestyle, including my diet. What kind of diet should I be on?
ANSWER: When patients have congestive heart failure, their heart isnt able to manage fluid well, and it builds up in the body. This fluid can cause shortness of breath, swelling in the abdomen or legs, and fatigue. If this occurs, diuretics, or water pills, often are prescribed to remove the excess fluid. Your health care provider also will recommend that you restrict your sodium, or salt, intake. Why is this important? Sodium makes your tissues act like a sponge, hanging on to water. This extra water retention, on top of the fluid retained from your heart not working properly, will make it harder for your water pill to work, and you likely will keep feeling poorly.
So, what does it mean to restrict your sodium? The American Heart Association recommends 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams of sodium per day for heart failure patients. Most Americans far exceed that recommendation.
How will you know how much sodium you are getting in your diet? First, be aware that any added salt will add up quickly. One teaspoon of table salt is over 2,000 mg of sodium. And it doesnt matter if its Himalayan salt, sea salt or kosher salt all should be avoided.
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Related Article
Sun Basket Launches Heart
Sun Basket is the first meal kit service to obtain the American Heart Associations Heart-Check certification. Starting October 30, the company will deliver pre-measured organic and sustainable ingredients and easy-to-cook recipes weekly right to your door.
The recipes will be part of Sun Baskets Lean & Clean menu, a weight management meal plan designed to help consumers eat healthier. Identified by the iconic Heart-Check mark that has been on food packages and in grocery stores since 1995, all recipes in the plan have undergone meticulous evaluation to ensure they abide by the AHA’s strict nutrition guidelines.
Adam Zbar, founder and CEO of Sun Basket, says, “Growing up, my dad who’s a doctor always impressed upon me the importance of a healthy diet, particularly in preventing heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in America, impacting more than 600,000 people each year. That’s one in four deaths in America, and more than one death on average every minute. Given the importance of diet on heart disease prevention, I’m excited to offer recipes that meet AHA’s guidelines for a heart-healthy diet.”
We love that these meals are low in calories and sugar and high in fiber and protein, but still easily accessible for busy people all over the country. You can purchase the meal plan starting from $70 for three meals for two people each week, and meals can be customized for the number of people in your family and/or dietary preferences.
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What Is Congestive Heart Failure
Heart failure is a condition in which the chambers of your heart dont fill with enough blood or your heart isnt strong enough to pump sufficient blood from these chambers to your bodys tissues.
Its commonly caused by heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, and most often occurs in older adults and people who are obese .
As a risk factor for heart disease, high cholesterol can also increase your risk of developing heart failure.
Heart failure symptoms may include :
- shortness of breath
- swelling in your ankles and feet
- swelling of your abdomen
- rapid weight gain from fluid retention
- fast heart rate
Your doctor may review your medical history, conduct a physical examination, and perform tests like a chest X-ray or heart ultrasound to diagnose heart failure .
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Congestive Heart Failure Diet Guidelines
The objective of diet for congestive heart failure is to decrease the work load of your heart, decrease fluid buildup and make it simpler for you to breath. The diet for congestive heart failure limits your intake of sodium to 2000 to 3000 mg a day and motivates you to choose a lot more fresh, unprocessed foods that are naturally lower in sodium. Some people with congestive heart failure should limit their fluid intake. Speak with your doctor regarding your daily fluid needs.
Breakfast:
A low-sodium breakfast dish may include one cup of cooked oatmeal topped with 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of non-fat milk dished up with a hard-boiled egg and 1/2 glass of orange juice. This morning meal consists of 465 calories and 125 mg of sodium. If you attempt to decrease the sodium in your daily diet, the initial step is to stop adding salt while cooking and eating at the table. One teaspoon of salt has 2200 mg of sodium.
Lunch:
A low-sodium lunch meal for congestive heart failure may include three oz. of low-sodium tuna combined with 1 tbsp. of low-fat mayonnaise on two slices of whole wheat bread, loaded with 1 cup of mixed green vegetables topped with 1 tsp. of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, one cup of non-fat fruits yogurt and a small orange. This meal contains 620 calories and 700 mg of sodium. You may also help limit your sodium intake by preparing foods at home. In this way, you know exactly how much sodium you are eating.
Dinner:
Snacks:
How To Choose A Low Sodium Meal Delivery Service
When searching for a low sodium meal delivery service, there are a few things to consider.
If you have a health condition that requires a specific macro- and micronutrient intake, its best to work with a qualified healthcare professional who can offer dietary advice.
They may suggest that you follow a diet that contains a specific amount of sodium. For example, someone with heart failure may be required to restrict their sodium intake to 2 grams or less per day.
People with kidney disease may have to restrict sodium, as well as potassium, phosphorus, and protein, depending on the severity of the disease.
This can get quite complicated, so it can be helpful to get advice from a healthcare professional or registered dietitian. They can help you choose a meal delivery service that meets your specific needs.
Additionally, its important to consider whether youd like to have meals that require no preparation, or if youd rather sign up for a meal kit delivery service that requires some light cooking.
Price is another factor to consider, as pricing varies considerably between meal delivery services.
Lastly, always take a look at the menu before signing up for a meal delivery service to ensure the company offers meals that you find appealing.
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What Is A Low Sodium Meal
A low sodium meal is one that limits high sodium foods and drinks. Sodium is found in most foods you eat. However, the sodium content of fruits and vegetables and poultry is much lower than that of other meat and dairy products.
Sodium is most prominent in packaged and processed foods like frozen dinners and fast foods, as it is used to enhance flavor.
Generally, a low sodium diet restricts sodium intake to less than 23 grams per day .
Lower Fat And Cholesterol
Studies have shown that the rate of heart failure is lower in people who follow a DASH diet , which centers on consuming polyunsaturated fats, complex carbohydrates like brown rice, low amounts of saturated fats, and fruits and vegetables.
Saturated fat and cholesterol can lead to other cardiovascular issues like atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of plaque on the walls of the arteries. To reduce that risk, eliminate butter, shortening, and margarine, and consume limited amounts of olive, peanut, and canola oils.
To lower your fat intake, avoid fatty cuts of meat, remove the skin from poultry, and consume more fish. Replace high-fat dairy with low-fat or nonfat options, eat whole grains for their high fiber content, and limit condiments and salad dressings that are high in fat and sodium. When preparing your food, avoid frying, and choose to bake, broil, poach, boil, or steam instead.
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