Medically Tailored Meals and Fresh Produce Deliveries Improve Quality of Life for Heart Failure Patients

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 healthy food deliveries, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025. The randomized trial included 150 adults who were enrolled within two weeks of being discharged from the hospital for acute heart failure, with participants assigned to receive either medically tailored meals and dietary counseling, fresh produce boxes and dietary counseling, or dietary counseling alone.

Lead study author Ambarish Pandey, M.D., M.S., FAHA, an associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, emphasized the importance of proper nutrition for heart failure patients. 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, Pandey noted. 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.

The study's key findings revealed that participants in both food delivery groups reported a higher quality of life compared to those who received dietary guidance without food delivery, based on their responses in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire. Interestingly, people in the conditional delivery groups who had to confirm prescription pick-up reported higher quality of life compared to people in the unconditional delivery group. Participants who received boxes of fresh produce and were able to use fresh produce in their own meals reported greater patient satisfaction than people who received prepared meals.

However, there were no significant differences in the number of hospital readmissions or emergency department visits between participants in the food delivery groups compared with people who did not receive food deliveries. The study found a total of 32 hospital readmissions and emergency department visits for heart failure during the 90-day study, with 18% of participants having one or more readmissions or emergency visits. These findings indicate the potential for healthy foods to affect outcomes and disease progression for people with chronic conditions like heart failure.

Access to healthy food is a social factor that contributes to overall health including cardiovascular disease risk and outcomes. According to the American Heart Association's 2025 Scientific Statement available at https://www.heart.org, programs that incorporate healthy food and health care for people with or at high risk for chronic disease showed great potential in improving diet quality and food security. The study population reflected significant health challenges, with 95% of participants having a diagnosis of high blood pressure, 54% having Type 2 diabetes, 53% reporting food insecurity, and 55% reporting nutrition insecurity.

The trial was funded by the American Heart Association's Health Care by Food initiative at https://www.heart.org, which is conducting scientific research, public policy advocacy and stakeholder education to advance food is medicine interventions. Study limitations include its small size of only 150 patients and short follow-up period of only 90 days. Larger studies with more participants and following patients for a longer time period are needed to assess whether food programs may lower hospitalizations or improve survival rates. Pandey and colleagues are planning a phase 3 trial with 1,200–1,500 people at multiple hospitals to further investigate these findings.