Optimizing Heart Failure Outcomes Through Diet: A Review

Abstract

Heart failure is a growing epidemic that will add significant monetary and human costs to an already overtaxed health-care system. Though promising new medications have recently been approved, this complex condition is largely preventable through aggressive risk factor modification, with diet being shown to have a greater effect than exercise. An underrated component of a healthy diet is the simple addition of nuts – the anti-inflammatory fatty acids, healthy proteins, and general availability have been shown to improve survival and reduce the primary risk factors contributing to heart failure, making the addition of nuts and legumes to the diet an attractive, cost-effective tool to promote cardiovascular well-being.

Keywords

• heart failure
• diet
• nuts
• legumes
• fatty acids
• risk factor modification