How Should Food be in People with HIV / AIDS?

Feeding can be a good way to complement the treatment of HIV / AIDS because through the intake of certain specific foods you can help strengthen the immune system. Also, the diet can help reduce the side effects caused by antiretroviral drugs, which are essential for the fight against HIV.

Food is just as important as medications because it helps prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, liver failure, or heart disease, strengthening the immune system, and improving the quality of life.

In some countries, HIV counseling centers or health centers have a nutritionist with whom they should consult to assess the nutritional status and make changes to the diet if necessary.

Essential Care with the Diet

In general, a healthy, varied, and colorful diet is recommended, It is important to keep the weight under control to avoid losing or gaining a lot of weight, thus raising the risk of nutritional deficit of vitamins and minerals, as well as cardiovascular complications.

Therefore, anti-inflammatory foods such as orange, acerola, pineapple, and flaxseed, and also those rich in omega 3 such as tuna, sardine, salmon, avocado, and chia, should be included in the diet, because they help protect the liver, pancreas, the heart, and intestine. Learn more examples in Foods that help fight inflammation.

Another important point in the feeding of the person with HIV / AIDS is hygiene, you should wash your hands and food thoroughly before being consumed. This is of extreme importance because in this way the risk of contracting an infection with microorganisms such as Giardia and Salmonella is reduced, and consequently the risk of suffering from gastroenteritis.

In addition to this, it is very important to avoid the consumption of raw foods such as carpaccio, sushi, roast beef or any food with little cooking due to the high risk of contagion and the emergence of an intestinal infection.

In addition to this, garlic can interfere with HIV treatment because it can cause a drug interaction, it does not mean that it cannot be consumed, but its consumption should not be abused.


Natural Remedies for HIV / AIDS

It is recommended to take echinacea tea daily to improve the immune system, but despite natural, the consumption of St. John's Wort, also known as hypericum, which is indicated to treat anxiety, nervousness, and depression, is not advised when taking medications such as Efavirenz, Delavirdina or Nevirapine.

Ideally, before consuming any natural remedy, the attending physician should be consulted, because there could be some interaction between the plant and the medications it uses to treat the disease.

How to Decrease the side effects of HIV / AIDS Medications

To reduce the unpleasant side effects of the medications used in antiretroviral therapy, the diet can be adapted to each symptom presented, so as not to cause any damage at the nutritional status level and guarantee a good response to the treatment, thus improving the health status of a person.

So it is important to know what to do to reduce these effects without having to change the medication:

Secondary effect

• Nausea and vomiting

What to do

Prefer small and frequent meals and avoid any drinks with food.
To calm nausea you can eat 1 piece of soda cracker or cracker.
Avoid very hot foods and prefer them cold.

• Diarrhea

What to do

Avoid foods that are high in fat, spicy, and sugary, such as soft drinks and industrialized juices.
Drink plenty of fluids such as water, coconut water, or homemade whey, in the same amount in which you lose fluids from vomiting or diarrhea.
Eat foods with few fibers such as green banana, apple without peel, toast, bread, white rice, pasta, and soda biscuit.

• Loss of appetite

What to do

Bet on foods such as soups or shakes that do not need much effort to consume. Or make several meals in small portions of smooth consistency.

• Alteration of the palate

What to do

Uses many aromatic herbs such as turmeric, pepper, oregano, thyme, cumin, bay leaf, rosemary or basil.

• Wounds in the mouth and esophagus

What to do

Avoid acidic foods such as citrus fruits, vinegar, spicy foods, very salty or hot.

• Weightloss

What to do

Add rice flour, milk powder, or cream of milk in the soup and dishes with sauces.

Why you Should pay Attention to the Weight

Whoever has the HIV virus should always be attentive to weight to avoid involuntary weight loss because this leads to a decrease in the immune system, but the excess weight should also be avoided. Therefore, it is advisable to go to the nutritionist every 6 months to adapt the diet in order to maintain a good nutritional status and consider the use of nutritional supplements.

Because just as a medical intervention with antiretroviral drugs needs to be adjusted according to the stage of HIV, the diet can also be adapted to prevent and treat the health problems that arise.