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Diet for Hep C Patients

Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver that can lead eventually to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Although the infection may be accompanied by few, if any, symptoms for years, it can cause significant damage. A healthy, well-rounded diet is recommended for everyone, but it is doubly important for those with hepatitis C. And for those with specific complications from or undergoing treatments for the infection, special diets may be necessary.

  1. Basic Dietary Guidelines

    • If you or a loved one has hepatitis C, there are some fundamental dietary guidelines that you need to follow to keep the condition from getting any worse. Stop drinking alcoholic beverages as these take a heavy toll on the liver and can exacerbate your condition, according to LiverDisease.com. You also should restrict your intake of iron-rich foods because most patients with Hepatitis C have difficulty excreting this mineral.

      To avoid a complication of hepatitis C known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), limit your consumption of fatty foods. NASH worsens the prognosis for hepatitis C patients. Unless your hepatitis C already has led to cirrhosis, try to eat 0.8 grams of protein for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. This means you should take in roughly 55 grams of protein daily if you weigh 150 pounds or 66 grams if you weigh 180 pounds. Restrict daily sodium intake to avoid a buildup of fluids, limiting daily consumption to between 500 and 1,000 mg if cirrhosis has developed.

    Adjustments for Interferon Treatment

    • If your hepatitis C is being treated with interferon, you may be experiencing a loss of appetite and other side effects. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website offers some dietary tips to help you counteract appetite loss and the malnutrition that may result: take a walk before meals to stimulate appetite; eat four or five smaller meals rather than two or three larger ones each day; include your favorite foods in meals; and substitute well-balanced homemade fruit shakes or nutritive supplements for one or more meals daily.

      The VA also suggests that you experiment with different food textures to make meals more interesting; keep healthy snacks, such as cheese and hard-boiled eggs, handy; stock up on single-portion frozen meals that can be prepared quickly; and avoid drinking fluids with meals as these may fill you up too quickly.

    Foods to Avoid

    • There are certain foods you should avoid or limit if you have hepatitis C. These include beverages high in caffeine content, tap water, junk foods, baked goods made with white flour, fruit juices, artificial sweeteners and processed foods. Limit your daily intake of meats, as they are difficult to digest and may contain undesirable chemical substances with which the animals were fed. Also, minimize your intake of dairy products because they are difficult to digest, although yogurt with minimal sugar content is acceptable.

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