Nutrition, dietary recommendations, and supplements for patients with congenital heart disease

Abstract

Nutrition is the cornerstone of a healthy life and is crucial for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) are prone to nutrition disorders, including abnormalities in body composition such as overweight or obesity which, along with other classic cardiovascular risk factors, places our increasing and aging adult CHD (ACHD) population at a higher risk for acquired cardiovascular disease. These patients are also at risk of cachexia or sarcopenia as well as macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies derived from the development of heart failure as a complication of their underlying cardiac disease. In this paper, we review different dietary recommendations and supplementation with specific macronutrients and micronutrients. We also discuss some special scenarios in ACHD patients and the importance of the microbiota, a new therapeutical target as yet underexplored in this patient population.