Congestive Heart Failure Dietary Recommendations

Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs when the heart cannot pump enough oxygen-rich blood through the body. Many underlying conditions may lead to CHF, including heart and kidney disease and obesity. A diet that includes reduced sodium, low fat intake and restricted fluids is recommended for anyone diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Reduce Sodium

• An excess of sodium can contribute to fluid retention in the body, which will put more pressure on the heart and lungs of CHF patients, making it more difficult to breathe normally. There are numerous ways to avoid sodium in the daily diet, according to the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
  Choose foods with low salt content. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to get nutrition from sources with very low salt content. Since salt is such a standard seasoning, opt for herbs and spices or vinegar instead.
  Read all food packages for nutritional information before buying them, making sure that most of what you choose to buy is low in sodium. If an item contains less than 350 mg of sodium per serving, it could be considered low sodium. Daily salt intake should not exceed 2,000 mg per day.

Eat Low-Fat, Low-Calorie Foods

• A low-fat and low-calorie diet will help patients lose weight that may be aggravating their CHF condition. Also, since a fatty diet can lead to other cardiovascular problems, maintaining a low-fat diet will help reduce the chances of further complications.
  A low-fat diet consists of fruits, vegetables, fish, cereals, rice, pasta, nuts and seeds, according to Heartpoint.com. Avoid high-fat foods like milk, ice cream, cheese, red meats, processed meats, butter, oils and eggs to stay within low-fat guidelines.
  Multiply your weight by 12 (this equals your recommended calorie intake), then take 30 percent of the total (calories from fat) and divide by nine (one gram of fat equals nine calories). This is how many fat grams are required to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, calorie intake will need to be reduced and, therefore, the formula will provide a lower target. A 1,500-calorie diet would allow for 50 g of fat per day.

Restrict Fluids

• Fluid retention can make it more difficult for CHF patients to breathe as the heart and lungs have extra weight on them, according to the Penn State College of Medicine. While sodium can lead to fluid retention in the body, drinking too many fluids can obviously contribute to it as well. Restricting fluid intake to minimal needs is one way to ensure that unnecessary fluids do not end up being retained in the body.
  Monitoring weight gain is important in determining if the body is retaining excess fluid. A sudden gain of more than three pounds within one week could indicate that the body is retaining fluid. CHF patients should report this finding to their doctor immediately.