HIV & Nutrition
Good nutrition is an important component of a healthy lifestyle for everyone. Once you know you are infected with human immunodeficiency virus or are diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), nutrition should become a very high priority in your treatment. There is no way you can keep your health in an excellent state if you only take medicines. You’ll need the right “fuel”, and “building blocks” to make them effective.
Just like the “cocktail” of medicines, optimal treatment is a “cocktail” of different components, like good nutrition, complementary treatments (supplements, vitamins, meditation, massage, to name a few) medicines, spirituality/religion, exercise, support, a positive attitude towards life.
The more you know about nutrition, the more you can control how you feel. Now is the time to be concerned about your diet. Forming good HIV/AIDS specific food and eating habits may make you feel better, look better, and stay healthier longer.
Healthy eating belongs at the top of your HIV/AIDS treatment plan. Eating a healthful diet isn't complicated, but eating one that is HIV/AIDS specific can be confusing. Since the day you were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, you may have heard conflicting advice about diet, nutritional supplements, exercise, herbs, and alternative therapies to fight HIV/AIDS.
Naturally, you want to do the right thing, but there's a lot of advice out there and it's hard to sort out what's best. Everyone's experience with this disease is unique. No two people will have exactly the same symptoms or complications, still it’s good to listen to others, and learn from them what has worked well.
Your team of health care professionals should include several basic areas of health management: medical, nutritional, physical (exercise), and psychosocial support. As new treatments emerge, your support team will help you incorporate them into your individual care plan.
All foods from the Five Food Groups provide calories, the units of energy your body needs every day to keep its engines running. Generally, you need from 16 to 18 calories per pound of your usual body weight. Check with your dietitian or physician to help determine the exact amount of calories you need each day. If you have lost a lot of weight, you might need to eat much more than this average.
Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta Group: Eating the recommended 6 to 11 servings from this group is a great source of carbohydrates that provide calories and other important nutrients needed daily.
The Fruit Group and the Vegetable Group, although not generally high in calories, are excellent sources of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants your body needs to convert food into energy and support immune function. Try to eat 2 to 4 servings of fruit and 3 to 5 servings of vegetables every day.
Protein in foods provides amino acids for your body to build, maintain, and repair cells and muscle tissue, heal wounds, support immune function. The best protein sources are in the Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese Group and the Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts Group.
Try to eat at least 2 to 3 servings from each of these groups every day. Check with your dietitian or physician to help determine your specific protein requirements. Protein needs are generally higher in people living with HIV/AIDS and may change at different times depending on your symptoms. Each meal should at least contain some proteins, and some fruits, (fresh) juice or vegetables.
Fats. Fats have more than two times the calories of carbohydrates and proteins, so they go far to fulfill your calorie needs. Fat comes in many types and forms.
Fats, Oils, and Sweets Group. Most people without HIV/AIDS try to avoid foods from this group. For you, these foods provide excellent and delicious way to pack calories into your diet, and should be included whenever possible. As far as the oils try to take olive and/or canola oils, and stay away from too much animal fat and “hard” fats.
The foods that some people call 'junk foods' such as soda pop, chips, and candy bars, are those that have very little protein, vitamins, and minerals but lots of calories and fat. If you eat too many of these junk foods, you may find you are not hungry for the other foods in the Five Food Groups. Remember, junk foods are fine, especially if you want to gain weight, but make sure they are "in addition to" not "instead of' more nutrient rich foods from the Five Food Groups.
Your body needs more than 40 different nutrients every day. The best way to get these nutrients is to eat a variety of foods from each food group. For good health, you need to eat them all!
Establishing Nutrition Priorities
Nutrition strategies can be very confusing, especially since so many people think they know more about what you should do than you, and they want to share their ideas and advice. While you don't want to discourage kindhearted advice, you also don't want to follow bad advice or act on misinformation about nutrition and how it affects your personal HIV/AIDS profile.
Priority number one is calories. If you do not eat enough food to meet you caloric requirements, you will start to lose weight, strength, and stamina.
A person living with a HIV/AIDS usually will need additional calories, especially when the virus is still very active and when you need to build up your immune system (needs proteins!). This is because your body is fighting a chronic infection, and that requires extra energy.
Even people in the best of health have trouble eating enough food and drinking enough fluids to meet their daily nutrient needs. When you can’t eat well at a meal, for an entire day, or for several days, it may be helpful to have a variety of nutritional supplements available to meet you daily needs.
Nutritional supplements come in a variety of flavors and forms beverage, soups, puddings, or bars. Most nutritional supplements provide the calories, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals you normally obtain from a wide variety of foods. They are however more expensive.
Priority number two is protein. If you do not eat enough protein, you could begin to lose muscle mass, strength, and stamina. Protein is also important to help support your immune function.
Nutritional supplements can be used as between meal snacks, with a meal, or as a meal replacement for those times when you do not feel well enough to prepare and eat a full meal. Remember, eating a wide variety of foods from each food group is still the top choice
Priority number three is fluid. Water is an essential component of every cell in your body. It is critical to prevent dehydration by drinking adequate amounts of fluid each day. Fluid lost through diarrhea, vomiting, and sweating must be replaced.
