We investigated the nutritional adequacy and energy availability in 57 normal-weight patients with chronic heart failure (HF) and 49 matched healthy sedentary subjects. We found that the chronic HF patients had a higher total energy expenditure (1,700 +/- 53 vs 1,950 +/- 43 kcal/day; p <0.01), a negative calorie balance (104 +/- 35 vs -186 +/- 40 kcal/day; p <0.01), a negative nitrogen balance (2.2 +/- 0.5 vs -1.7 +/- 0.4 g/day; p <0.01), and a hypercatabolic hormonal status (cortisol/insulin ratio 32 +/- 1.7 vs 65 +/- 5.1; p <0.01). We conclude that patients with chronic HF had an inadequate calorie intake to support energetic needs for daily activities, with consequent important protein breakdown that causes muscular wasting