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A healthy, nutritious diet is vitally important for people who have HIV/Aids and can contribute to keeping an individual as healthy as possible for many years.
Nutrition refers to all the processes involved in eating food and how the body absorbs and uses it. Nutrients are foods and substances (like vitamins and minerals) which enable the body to function properly and help prevent disease.
HIV+ people are also at an increased risk of additional health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, which can also be avoided to some extent with a healthy, balanced diet. HIV may also have an effect on the way your body utilises the food you eat and is more demanding in nutrients and energy.
It can cause malabsorption of food, or diarrhoea which also affects food absorption leading to weight loss. Losing weight can be a concern as it can lower the immune system further.
Why is nutrition so important for people with HIV/Aids?
Eating healthily and maintaining your proper weight helps strengthen the immune system, making it better able to slow the progression of HIV to Aids and stronger to fight off opportunistic diseases.
Good nutrition also helps your body tolerate medical treatments more easily and improves your sense of well-being, which in turn strengthens your immune system.
HIV/Aids and poor nutrition is a vicious circle. A combination of the following factors leads to poor nutrition in people with HIV/Aids:
1. Increased nutritional needs: Infectious illness causes the body's immune system response to use up more energy and nutrients than usual, and when opportunistic infections are present your body needs even more nutrients. People with HIV/Aids often need to make up for protein losses, which may result from malabsorption (the inability to take up food properly from the gut) due to diarrhoea. (See below: "Problems with digestion"). Protein loss leads to muscle-tissue breakdown. Subsequent concerns about your health can also lead to higher than usual stress levels, which affect the immune system negatively. This puts further demands on your immune system.
2. Decreased food intake: When you have a condition as demanding as HIV/Aids on the body, your appetite is often affected.
- Repeated infections and fever often result in poor appetite. Medical treatments can also suppress appetite, as do psychological factors, such as depression and anxiety.
- Physical symptoms such as mouth and throat soreness can interfere with eating.
- Fatigue can make food preparation and eating difficult, particularly in the late stage of Aids.
- Treatment costs and reduced work output due to illness may leave you with less money to spend on food.
3. Problems with digestion: HIV and other infections may damage the lining of the gut. This interferes with food digestion and absorption. Malabsorption results in diarrhoea, which in turn causes nutrient and water loss.
Good nutrition: Breaking the vicious cycle
Good nutrition means eating a balanced diet that provides you with all the necessary daily nutrients. The aims of good nutrition for people with HIV/Aids are to maintain ideal body weight, minimise muscle loss, prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies, ensure food safety and overcome problems that interfere with nutrient intake and absorption.
This is a simple seven-point plan to good nutrition:
Step 1: Pay attention to your diet: as soon as you know you are HIV-positive, take a closer look at your diet and continue to do so throughout the course of the disease.
Step 2: Discuss your diet with a doctor or nutritionist: preferably one experienced in counselling people with HIV/Aids. Your local Aids organisation can also advise you on where to get nutrition information and counselling.
Step 3: Eat a varied diet: which includes the following food types:
• Starchy foods, such as bread, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereals, porridge, and pasta. These high-energy foods help keep body weight stable and should form the basis of your meals.
• Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and other substances vital to health. Eat a variety of these daily. Vitamins strengthen the immune system and keep the linings of the lungs and the gut intact, which reduces the risk of infectious organisms entering the body. Eat at least some of your fruits and vegetables fresh every day; overcooking and soaking fruit and vegetables for long periods can destroy their vitamin content.
• Meat and milk products supply muscle-building proteins and strengthen the immune system. Good protein sources: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products (milk, milk powder, yoghurt, buttermilk, cheese). Dried beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, soya, tofu and peanuts are also good sources of protein and especially important for vegetarians.
• Sugars, fats and oils provide energy and should be eaten in larger amounts after infections or periods of weight loss. Apart from adding sugar to food, it can be obtained from foods made with sugar (cakes, pastries, biscuits and desserts). Fats and oils include butter, margarine, lard, cooking oil, cream, mayonnaise and salad dressings. (Note: In late-stage Aids a high-fat diet may cause diarrhoea.)
Step 4: Exercise to build muscle: Weight loss resulting from HIV/Aids is often due to loss of muscle mass. Simple activities, such as doing household chores and taking regular walks, help to keep your muscles strong. Take it easy, however, when you're feeling ill, or have diarrhoea, a cough, fever or fatigue.
Step 5: Drink at least eight cups of fluid (water and other beverages) daily: This is particularly important if you've had diarrhoea, vomiting or night sweats, which cause water loss.
Step 6: Avoid alcohol: It can harm the liver (particularly if you're also taking medications), cause loss of vitamins, and make you more vulnerable to infections. It is also less likely that you will practise safe sex when you are under the influence of alcohol.
Step 7: Get the essential vitamins and minerals: The following are particularly important:
• Vitamin C helps with recovery from infections. Good sources include citrus fruits (oranges, grape fruit, lemons), guavas, mangoes, tomatoes and potatoes.
• Vitamin A helps keep the linings of the skin, lungs and gut healthy. Infections increase loss of vitamin A from the body. Good sources are dark green, yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, pumpkin leaves, green peppers, sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, carrots, yellow peaches, apricots, papaya and mangoes. Animal sources include liver, butter, cheese and eggs.
• Vitamin B6 helps maintain healthy immune and nervous systems. Good sources include white beans, potatoes, meat, fish, chicken, watermelon, maize, grain, nuts, avocado, broccoli and green leafy vegetables.
• Selenium, found in whole grain foods, such as wholewheat bread, bran flakes and corn, and protein-rich foods such as milk products, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, peanuts, dried beans and nuts.
• Zinc, found in meat, fish, poultry, shellfish, whole grain cereals, corn, beans, peanuts and dairy products.
• Flavonoids and phytosterols are natural substances, found mainly in fruits and vegetables, which boost the immune system. Sources of flavonoids are citrus fruits, apples, berries, red grapes, carrots, onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, peppers and green tea.
• Phytosterols are found in a variety of foods, including seafood, peas, nuts, seeds (sunflower and sesame) and whole grains.
Vitamin and mineral supplements
Vitamin and mineral supplements cannot not make up for a nutritious diet as foods contain many substances vital for health not found in vitamin pills. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to take a vitamin-mineral supplement, given that HIV infection does increase the body's need for certain vitamins and minerals.
Tips for taking supplements:
• Take vitamin pills on a full stomach.
• It is generally better to take one multivitamin and mineral tablet daily rather than several pills containing different substances.
• Don't take more than recommended on the package or by your doctor. High doses can cause nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite and liver and kidney problems. Excessive intakes of zinc and vitamin A can decrease immunity.
Nutrition refers to all the processes involved in eating food and how the body absorbs and uses it. Nutrients are foods and substances (like vitamins and minerals) which enable the body to function properly and help prevent disease.
HIV+ people are also at an increased risk of additional health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, which can also be avoided to some extent with a healthy, balanced diet. HIV may also have an effect on the way your body utilises the food you eat and is more demanding in nutrients and energy.
It can cause malabsorption of food, or diarrhoea which also affects food absorption leading to weight loss. Losing weight can be a concern as it can lower the immune system further.
Why is nutrition so important for people with HIV/Aids?
Eating healthily and maintaining your proper weight helps strengthen the immune system, making it better able to slow the progression of HIV to Aids and stronger to fight off opportunistic diseases.
Good nutrition also helps your body tolerate medical treatments more easily and improves your sense of well-being, which in turn strengthens your immune system.
HIV/Aids and poor nutrition is a vicious circle. A combination of the following factors leads to poor nutrition in people with HIV/Aids:
1. Increased nutritional needs: Infectious illness causes the body's immune system response to use up more energy and nutrients than usual, and when opportunistic infections are present your body needs even more nutrients. People with HIV/Aids often need to make up for protein losses, which may result from malabsorption (the inability to take up food properly from the gut) due to diarrhoea. (See below: "Problems with digestion"). Protein loss leads to muscle-tissue breakdown. Subsequent concerns about your health can also lead to higher than usual stress levels, which affect the immune system negatively. This puts further demands on your immune system.
2. Decreased food intake: When you have a condition as demanding as HIV/Aids on the body, your appetite is often affected.
- Repeated infections and fever often result in poor appetite. Medical treatments can also suppress appetite, as do psychological factors, such as depression and anxiety.
- Physical symptoms such as mouth and throat soreness can interfere with eating.
- Fatigue can make food preparation and eating difficult, particularly in the late stage of Aids.
- Treatment costs and reduced work output due to illness may leave you with less money to spend on food.
3. Problems with digestion: HIV and other infections may damage the lining of the gut. This interferes with food digestion and absorption. Malabsorption results in diarrhoea, which in turn causes nutrient and water loss.
Good nutrition: Breaking the vicious cycle
Good nutrition means eating a balanced diet that provides you with all the necessary daily nutrients. The aims of good nutrition for people with HIV/Aids are to maintain ideal body weight, minimise muscle loss, prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies, ensure food safety and overcome problems that interfere with nutrient intake and absorption.
This is a simple seven-point plan to good nutrition:
Step 1: Pay attention to your diet: as soon as you know you are HIV-positive, take a closer look at your diet and continue to do so throughout the course of the disease.
Step 2: Discuss your diet with a doctor or nutritionist: preferably one experienced in counselling people with HIV/Aids. Your local Aids organisation can also advise you on where to get nutrition information and counselling.
Step 3: Eat a varied diet: which includes the following food types:
• Starchy foods, such as bread, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereals, porridge, and pasta. These high-energy foods help keep body weight stable and should form the basis of your meals.
• Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and other substances vital to health. Eat a variety of these daily. Vitamins strengthen the immune system and keep the linings of the lungs and the gut intact, which reduces the risk of infectious organisms entering the body. Eat at least some of your fruits and vegetables fresh every day; overcooking and soaking fruit and vegetables for long periods can destroy their vitamin content.
• Meat and milk products supply muscle-building proteins and strengthen the immune system. Good protein sources: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products (milk, milk powder, yoghurt, buttermilk, cheese). Dried beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, soya, tofu and peanuts are also good sources of protein and especially important for vegetarians.
• Sugars, fats and oils provide energy and should be eaten in larger amounts after infections or periods of weight loss. Apart from adding sugar to food, it can be obtained from foods made with sugar (cakes, pastries, biscuits and desserts). Fats and oils include butter, margarine, lard, cooking oil, cream, mayonnaise and salad dressings. (Note: In late-stage Aids a high-fat diet may cause diarrhoea.)
Step 4: Exercise to build muscle: Weight loss resulting from HIV/Aids is often due to loss of muscle mass. Simple activities, such as doing household chores and taking regular walks, help to keep your muscles strong. Take it easy, however, when you're feeling ill, or have diarrhoea, a cough, fever or fatigue.
Step 5: Drink at least eight cups of fluid (water and other beverages) daily: This is particularly important if you've had diarrhoea, vomiting or night sweats, which cause water loss.
Step 6: Avoid alcohol: It can harm the liver (particularly if you're also taking medications), cause loss of vitamins, and make you more vulnerable to infections. It is also less likely that you will practise safe sex when you are under the influence of alcohol.
Step 7: Get the essential vitamins and minerals: The following are particularly important:
• Vitamin C helps with recovery from infections. Good sources include citrus fruits (oranges, grape fruit, lemons), guavas, mangoes, tomatoes and potatoes.
• Vitamin A helps keep the linings of the skin, lungs and gut healthy. Infections increase loss of vitamin A from the body. Good sources are dark green, yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, pumpkin leaves, green peppers, sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, carrots, yellow peaches, apricots, papaya and mangoes. Animal sources include liver, butter, cheese and eggs.
• Vitamin B6 helps maintain healthy immune and nervous systems. Good sources include white beans, potatoes, meat, fish, chicken, watermelon, maize, grain, nuts, avocado, broccoli and green leafy vegetables.
• Selenium, found in whole grain foods, such as wholewheat bread, bran flakes and corn, and protein-rich foods such as milk products, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, peanuts, dried beans and nuts.
• Zinc, found in meat, fish, poultry, shellfish, whole grain cereals, corn, beans, peanuts and dairy products.
• Flavonoids and phytosterols are natural substances, found mainly in fruits and vegetables, which boost the immune system. Sources of flavonoids are citrus fruits, apples, berries, red grapes, carrots, onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, peppers and green tea.
• Phytosterols are found in a variety of foods, including seafood, peas, nuts, seeds (sunflower and sesame) and whole grains.
Vitamin and mineral supplements
Vitamin and mineral supplements cannot not make up for a nutritious diet as foods contain many substances vital for health not found in vitamin pills. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to take a vitamin-mineral supplement, given that HIV infection does increase the body's need for certain vitamins and minerals.
Tips for taking supplements:
• Take vitamin pills on a full stomach.
• It is generally better to take one multivitamin and mineral tablet daily rather than several pills containing different substances.
• Don't take more than recommended on the package or by your doctor. High doses can cause nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite and liver and kidney problems. Excessive intakes of zinc and vitamin A can decrease immunity.
