If you are HIV positive, a nutrient-rich, well-balanced diet can help in keeping your immune system strong and improving your quality of life. You may also benefit from supplementary vitamins and minerals, including iron. However, iron supplementation can actually harm some people with HIV. Before taking iron supplements, ask your doctor whether they might help or hinder your HIV management.
Iron's Roles in the Body
The mineral iron is a critical part of such proteins as myoglobin, which stores oxygen in muscle, and hemoglobin, which makes blood appear red and enables it to ferry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. Human beings replenish their bodily iron stores chiefly through food. Both iron deficiency, or anemia, and excess, or iron overload, can become serious health problems, especially for people with HIV.
Iron and HIV
HIV-positive people are more vulnerable to anemia and iron overload. Your doctor will likely monitor your iron levels with regular blood tests. According to the AIDS Project of Los Angeles, nearly half of people on HAART, or highly active antiretroviral therapy, have anemia. It can result from appetite and digestive disturbances, poor diet, the bodily demands of living with chronic infection, and/or some drugs commonly used to treat HIV/AIDS, including zidovudine, ganciclovir and pentamidine. Iron overload can arise from HIV's chronic inflammatory processes, blood transfusions and/or tobacco smoking. Both anemia and iron overload can cause poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies for HIV-positive people as both are associated with higher rates of opportunistic infections.
Anemia and Iron Overload Symptoms
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the warning signs of anemia include fatigue, weakness, slow thinking, problems regulating bodily temperature, increased vulnerability to infections, and tongue inflammation. Iron overload may begin with weakness, tiredness, joint or belly pain or weight loss, then progress to problems like loss of menstrual periods, impotence, liver disease and heart irregularities. Bring such symptoms to your doctor’s attention so you can get proper diagnosis and treatment.
Dietary and Supplemental Iron
CATIE, the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, and other services like it offer a valuable guide on nutrition for those with HIV; for example, it discusses which foods are rich in what nutrients. Although animal flesh contains iron, plant foods like beans, tofu, fortified grains and dark leafy greens are also good sources. Ask your doctor before taking any vitamin or mineral supplements, including iron. Too much iron can cause or worsen iron overload and associated tissue damage.
References
- AIDS Project Los Angeles: Nutrition Education: Anemia
- AIDS Project Los Angeles: Nutrition Education: Eating on a Budget
- Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange: A Practical Guide to Nutrition for People Living with HIV
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Iron and Iron Deficiency
- MedlinePlus: Iron in Diet
- "Micronutrients and HIV Infection"; Henrik Friis; 2002
- Tufts University School of Medicine: HIV Nutrition and Health
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