Maintaining a Healthy Diet

Consistent, healthy eating habits are an important part of living with HIV. Good nutrition helps keep your immune system strong - enabling you to better fight disease.

Good nutrition helps the body process the many medications often taken by people with HIV. Depending on the HIV medication, it may need to be taken with or without food.

Diet (and exercise) may also help with symptoms including diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue, and with body fat changes or other health issues such as high blood sugar or cholesterol.

When you are infected with HIV, your immune system has to work very hard to fight off infections -- and this takes energy (measured in calories). The average person needs about 10-20 calories per pound per day to maintain a stable body weight. This estimate may be higher for people living with HIV, especially those with advanced disease.

A balanced diet is comprised of the following components:

• Protein: Protein helps build lean body mass. Most nutrition experts recommend that protein should not be more than about 15-20% of the total calories in a person's diet. Good sources include lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, tofu, nuts, and legumes (e.g., dried beans, lentils).
• Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are an important source of energy. Most nutritionists suggest that carbohydrates should make up about 50% to 60% of one's total daily calorie intake. Carbohydrates are provided by foods such as bread, pasta, rice, legumes, potatoes, and root vegetables.
• Fats: Fat in food is also a source of energy and has a high concentration of calories. Most experts say fats should make up about 25% of total calorie intake, with less than 7% being saturated fat.
• Fiber: Fiber plays an important role in digestion. Fiber helps food move smoothly through the body and is found in the skin and pulp of many fruits and vegetables, whole grains (such as popcorn and brown rice). Fiber is often referred to as "roughage."