New research presented at the World Congress on Heart Failure shows that a high-protein diet can help heart failure patients.

Higher Protein For Longer Life

The team of scientists presented their findings during a congressional session on Sunday, May 27, at the European Society of Cardiology in Vienna, Austria. It focused on older adults who suffered from heart failure and how increasing protein intake could help them add more years to their lives.

The primary challenge that the research team noted was that throughout the aging process, the adults had issues maintaining muscle mass. They consumed less protein and had a hard time building muscle mass. The research team added there had not been a lot of research done on measuring the protein consumption in patients with heart failure.

Introducing BIOSTAT-CHF

The scientists researched the correlation between protein intake and the survival of 2,281 heart failure patients through the BIOSTAT-CHF study. The patients were from 11 European countries with an average age of 68, and 27 percent of them were women.

The scientists assessed their subjects' daily protein intake through their urine, creatinine, and body mass index. Dr. Koen Streng, the study author, noted to Tech Times that their formula estimated the patients' total protein intake. Next, Strung and his team divided the patients into four groups according to their protein intake.

Protein And Survival

Streng and his team found that the patients consumed between 40 and 70 grams of protein. Thirty-one percent died after consuming 40 grams or less a day compared to the 18 percent who ate 70 grams or more a day.

"We observed that in patients with heart failure, a higher protein intake is independently associated with better survival. The study did not look at causes for this link, but it is likely that dietary protein builds muscle mass which is beneficial for health in these patients," said Streng in a statement to News Medical Life Sciences.

Food And The Heart

Meanwhile, a study in China found that daily egg eaters had an 18 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure and strokes. Scientists studied 416,213 individuals who were not diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Thirteen percent of the participants ate an egg a day, while 9 percent did not. For nine years, the scientists tracked the individuals and noted coronary events such as heart attacks and strokes. In a follow-up, the scientists found that nearly 10,000 subjects died, and 83,977 people developed heart disease. They concluded that eating an egg every day was linked to a lower risk of heart disease compared with not eating eggs.

The American Heart Association released a new advisory in their journal Circulation encouraging Americans to eat more fish. It states that eating fish with higher amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids twice a week will help reduce the risk of heart failure and cardiac arrest. It also mentions that people who ate seafood at least four or more times a week had a 22 percent chance of getting coronary heart disease than those who ate fish only once a month.