The HIV/AIDS diet

Inspired by World AIDS Awareness Day (which has grown into AIDS Awareness Week on this blog), I've been looking for new resources about the dietary dimension of life with HIV/AIDS.

From supporting the immune system to coping with side effects from medications, diet should play a key role in managing HIV and AIDS. Also, the body often experiences intense calorie burning when grappling with chronic viral issues, which means that many people who are HIV+ need to eat extra calories to compensate. It is critical to make sure these extra calories count in a good way, that people choose foods that could strengthen the body instead of further tax it.

Below are some helpful links.

• The Lifelong AIDS Alliance features nutritional fact sheets that address specific symptoms (diarrhea, loss of appetite, etc). A little heavy on the nutritional supplements recommendations, but good otherwise.


• This article in The Body discusses how a healthy diet and meds can work well together, and this one offers more detailed advice about foods to eat more of and foods to eat less of.


• This piece at AIDS Meds breaks down the advice into specifics about each food group. Most of the information is spot on.