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Nutrition & HIV

Proper nutrition is vital to anyone's health and well-being, but that is especially true for individuals living with HIV. Due to the effects that HIV and its treatments can have on the body, maintaining good nutrition can have a major impact on the progress of an HIV infection.

  1. Importance of Good Nutrition

    • The primary importance of a good diet and proper nutrition is the role that it plays in keeping the immune system strong and ready to fight disease. Proper nutrition can help to keep CD4 immune cell counts high and can help the body to fight off opportunistic infections that may occur as a result of HIV infection.

    Symptom Relief

    • Maintaining a healthy diet while living with HIV helps to prevent or reduce the effects of wasting syndrome and also can prevent overall malnutrition. Diet also may help with less serious symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea.

    Nutrition and Medication

    • Antiretroviral combination therapy can be very hard on the body. Proper diet and nutrition are fundamental in avoiding treatment failure. Because of the impact that these drugs can have on the body, nutrition can help keep the body strong and prevent adherence issues that can lead to drug tolerance.

    Difficulty in Maintaining Proper Nutrition

    • Side effects from antiretroviral medications as well as symptoms of progressing HIV--nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite--can make maintaining proper nutrition very difficult.

    HIV Infection and Infant Nutrition

    • While the health benefits of breast milk for infants have been proved in scientific study, breastfeeding done by an HIV-positive mother can lead to infection in an HIV-negative baby. Formula is recommended for babies born to HIV-positive mothers, but care should be taken to ensure that the infant's nutritional needs are met.

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