Vitamins and minerals are important for keeping your body healthy and preventing and fighting infections. Consuming sufficient amounts of these micronutrients is especially important for people with HIV, because they are at an increased risk for developing infections. Multivitamins can help increase the overall micronutrient intake of people with HIV and help them get the nutrients they need.
Need for Extra Vitamins and Minerals
Although people with HIV need extra vitamins and minerals to help them fight infections and stay healthy, they may also have special nutritional considerations that make it difficult to get these micronutrients through diet alone. These include a reduced food intake due to loss of appetite and difficulty preparing and eating food as well as decreased absorption of nutrients due to diarrhea and other infections.
Micronutrients of Concern
Iron, selenium and zinc are minerals that may help fight HIV. Antioxidants, including beta carotene and vitamins C and E, may also help fight HIV. However, people with HIV are sometimes deficient in vitamins A, E, B-6 and vitamin B-12, selenium and zinc, putting them at greater risk for infections and the causing their condition to deteriorate, according to The Well Project.
Multivitamin Benefits
Taking a multivitamin may help people with HIV delay the development of full-blown AIDS, according to a study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" in 2004. Multivitamin supplements may also help to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and adverse pregnancy outcomes, notes a study published in 2007 in "Vitamins and Hormones."
Considerations
While multivitamin supplements are beneficial for people with HIV, supplements of individual vitamins may not be. For example, stand-alone vitamin A supplements may actually cause adverse effects and aren't recommended except among HIV+ children deficient in vitamin A, according to the 2007 "Vitamins and Hormones" article. Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E and K, can build up to toxic amounts in the body if taken in large amounts.
References
- The Well Project; Vitamins and Supplements; Kelly Williams, R.D., L.D.; July 2003
- Food and Agriculture Organization: Special Eating Needs for People Living With HIV/AIDS
- "Epidemiology"; Vitamins in HIV Disease Progression and Vertical Transmission; W.W. Fawzi et al.; July 1998
- "Journal of Nutrition"; Studies of Vitamins and Minerals and HIV Transmission and Disease Progression; Wafaie Fawzi et al.; April 2005
- "Vitamins and Hormones"; Effects of Vitamins, Including Vitamin A, on HIV/AIDS Patients; S. Mehta et al.; 2007
- BBC News; Multivitamins 'Slow HIV Progress'; July 2004
