Food supplementation for patients following a heart failure (HF)-related hospitalization was both feasible and acceptable and associated with clinically meaningful improvement in quality of life compared with usual care, based on findings from the FOOD-HF trial presented at AHA 2025. However, researchers observed no significant reductions in HF hospitalizations or events.
The study randomized 150 patients hospitalized for acute HF at UT Southwestern Medical Center or Parkland Hospital in Dallas to receive either medically tailored meals (MTM), fresh produce supplementation, or usual care involving standardized dietary counseling for 90 days. Virtual consultations occurred at time of randomization, day 30 and day 60. Patients in the MTM group received 14 full prepared, low sodium, refrigerated meals per week. Fresh produce boxes included fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, eggs, olive oil and pantry staples, along with healthy recipes.
Researchers also divided those participants receiving either MTM or produce into two additional subgroups. One subgroup only received food if they picked up their medications from the pharmacy and attended their follow-up clinic appointments (conditional group), while the other subgroup received food whether they picked up their medications or attended appointments at the clinic (unconditional group).
Over three months, there were relatively few HF hospitalizations or emergency department visits (32 events), and the risk was similar between patients receiving food supplementation and those receiving usual care (adjusted risk ratio 1.09; 95% CI: 0.49–2.43; p=0.83).
However, secondary outcomes favored food supplementation. A hierarchical composite measure showed improvement driven by better quality of life (win ratio 1.21; 95% CI: 1.14–1.29). Notably, a significantly greater proportion of participants achieved meaningful quality-of-life gains with food supplementation compared to usual care (adjusted odds ratio 2.09; 95% CI: 1.01–4.31; p=0.046).
In other findings, individuals in the conditional food delivery subgroup reported higher quality of life compared to people in the unconditional delivery group. In addition, participants who received boxes of fresh produce reported greater patient satisfaction than people who received prepared meals, based on their responses in the end-of-study survey.
“These findings indicate the potential for healthy foods to affect outcomes and disease progression for people with chronic conditions like HF,” said Ambarish Pandey, MD. “If we can identify the best strategy for providing access to healthy food, this could be transformative for people with HF who are particularly vulnerable after hospitalization. I think healthy food can be as powerful as medications for people with chronic conditions like HF.”
According to Pandey, larger, multicenter trials to evaluate clinical outcomes are needed that include longer-term food supply intervention and follow-up. He also added that fresh produce interventions deserve more focus.
Clinical Topics:
Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Prevention, Acute Heart Failure
Keywords:
AHA Annual Scientific Sessions, AHA25, Heart Failure, Secondary Prevention, Care Team