Providing healthy, medically tailored meals or boxes of fresh produce along with nutrition counseling led to improved quality of life for people with heart failure compared to those who received dietary counseling without food deliveries, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans. The study, funded by the American Heart Association’s Health Care by Food™ initiative, included 150 adults recently discharged from the hospital for acute heart failure.
“People with heart failure can often experience their condition worsening if they are not eating the right kind of food after they go home from the hospital,” said lead study author Ambarish Pandey, M.D., M.S., FAHA, an associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “People need nutritious meals that can provide them with the right nutrients for optimal health, including the appropriate calorie intake, the right amount of protein and limited sodium, sugar and fat.”
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: medically tailored meals plus dietary counseling, fresh produce boxes plus dietary counseling, or dietary counseling alone. Those receiving food were further split into conditional delivery (food only if they picked up medications and attended follow-up appointments) and unconditional delivery (food regardless of adherence). The food programs lasted 90 days.
Key findings showed that both food delivery groups reported higher quality of life, measured by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, compared to the counseling-only group. The conditional delivery groups reported even higher quality of life than the unconditional groups. Additionally, participants receiving fresh produce boxes reported greater patient satisfaction than those receiving prepared meals. However, there were no significant differences in hospital readmissions or emergency department visits among groups, with a total of 32 such events during the study.
“These findings indicate the potential for healthy foods to affect outcomes and disease progression for people with chronic conditions like heart failure,” Pandey said. “If we can identify the best strategy for providing access to healthy food, this could be transformative for people with heart failure who are particularly vulnerable after hospitalization.”
Access to healthy food is a key social determinant of health. According to the American Heart Association’s 2025 Scientific Statement, “Systematic Review of ‘Food Is Medicine’ Randomized Controlled Trials for Noncommunicable Disease in U.S.”, programs integrating healthy food with health care show promise in improving diet quality and food security. The study’s limitations include its small size (150 patients) and short follow-up (90 days); larger trials are needed to assess impacts on hospitalizations and survival. Pandey and colleagues are planning a phase 3 trial with 1,200–1,500 participants across multiple hospitals.
