Nutrition counseling can be a valuable tool for teaching people with HIV and AIDS the foundations of good nutrition. A healthy diet is one of the keys to good health. Eating well can help you fight infections, maintain a healthy body weight and boost energy levels. Nutrition counseling can give you the information necessary to use diet to help manage the symptoms of HIV and AIDS.
Maintaining Body Mass
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy products are the building blocks of a healthy diet. Protein is an especially necessary part of the diet for people with HIV and AIDS because of its relationship with the immune system. Inadequate dietary protein causes your body to break down muscle mass to fulfill energy requirements, which can weaken your immune system. Tufts University recommends 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to build and maintain lean body mass if you have HIV or AIDS. Good sources of dietary protein include nuts, fish, eggs, poultry, meat and dairy products.
Managing Lipodystrophy
Lipodystrophy is characterized by a redistribution of fat in your body and metabolic changes that accompany HIV and AIDS. With lipodystrophy, fat often accumulates in the back of a patient's neck, giving a "buffalo hump" appearance, and in the belly. Fat loss also frequently occurs in the face, arms, legs, and buttocks. Metabolic changes associated with lipodystrophy include elevated cholesterol levels and insulin resistance. A diet rich in high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and low in saturated fat, sweets, and alcohol can help you control and reduce the symptoms of lipodystrophy.
Avoiding Weight Loss
If you have HIV and AIDS, you may experience unintentional weight loss. A variety of factors, including nausea, vomiting, changes in metabolism, mouth infections, diarrhea and fatigue, can cause weight loss. Tips to help slow weight loss include eating six or eight small meals daily and focusing on high-calorie, high-protein foods such as yogurt, peanut butter, smoothies, legumes and canned, high-protein nutrition shakes. Your doctor can prescribe appetite stimulants if poor appetite is an ongoing problem. A registered dietitian can also help you by identifying barriers to proper nutrition and suggesting ways to overcome them.
Delaying Disease Progression
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that taking a daily multivitamin can delay the progression of HIV. Individuals with HIV who took a daily multivitamin had significantly higher CD4 counts and lower viral loads compared with HIV-positive individuals taking a placebo. A daily multivitamin can be an inexpensive way to slow the progression of HIV. Talk to your doctor before starting a multivitamin or any other supplement to ensure that it will not interfere with any other medications you may be taking.
References
- "AIDS Read": Wasting and Lipodystrophy in Patients Infected With HIV: Nutritional Counseling; Fisher; November 2001
- US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration: A Guide to the Clinical Care of Women with HIV/AIDS
- Tufts University: HIV Nutrition and Health
- "New England Journal of Medicine": A Randomized Trial of Multivitamin Supplements and HIV Disease Progression and Mortality; Wafaie W. Fawzi, M.B., B.S., Dr.P.H., et al.; July 2004
