The HF is a multifactorial disorder that involves multiple organ systems in its pathogenesis and strongly affects the quality of life of affected patients [6], causing functional limitation and requiring immediate therapeutic intervention [5]. It represents a serious and growing public health problem worldwide, both for its high prevalence and the severity of its clinical manifestations, being the final common pathway of most diseases [7][8][9].Clinical manifestations in patients with HF include fatigue, dyspnea during daily activities and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, hepatomegaly, intolerance to physical exertion, night cough and water retention, which can cause pulmonary congestion and peripheral edema [9,10]. In recent decades, with a better understanding of the disease process, it became clear that the pathological changes involve not only the cardiovascular system but also the neuroendocrine, immune, musculoskeletal, hematologic, renal and gastrointestinal systems as well as the nutritional status [11].Undernutrition is commonly found in patients with HF, mainly in the most advanced stages of the disease, being related with an enhanced risk of complications and mortality [12]. The implementation of effective nutritional strategies in HF remains a therapeutic challenge in clinical practice. In this review the nutritional aspects will be addressed for HF, with emphasis on the implications and nutritional recommendations.
Undernutrition and HFUndernutrition is a classic manifestation and is often associated with HF. Within the list of common manifestations of the disease, varying degrees of protein-calorie depletion can be found, as well as extreme cases, generically called cardiac cachexia [13].