Nutrition and HIV

Nutrition and HIV

In her presentation entitled "Building Health and Healing with HIV/AIDS," Jan Zimmerman provided practical advice about food and supplement choices. These choices are just one part of healthy living, however. Ms. Zimmerman views emotional and spiritual health as the foundation for health and healing. You can use support groups, conversations with friends, meditation, or church, among other resources, to support your emotional and spiritual health, but your emotional health must be well established before you undertake healing nutrition and exercise. The final component of health and healing, especially in HIV disease, is medication and side effect management. These three elements of health and healing must be practiced daily.

Advertisement

HIV nutrition specialists can help you do more than just gain or lose weight. They can provide guidance on both HIV-related and medication-related ailments, including appetite loss, bloating/gas, diarrhea, kidney disease, lipodystrophy, and wasting. Some of these conditions can be treated without pharmaceutical interventions.

Ms. Zimmerman explained the general principles of Nutritional Healing in HIV/AIDS upon which she bases her practice:

1. Maintain normal body weight.
   • Be aware of the caloric intake you need to achieve and maintain a normal weight.
2. Build muscles/maintain lean body mass (avoid wasting).
   • Use strength training and, if necessary, steroids or hormones to build/maintain muscle mass.
3. Optimize digestion.
   • The digestive tract is your center of health -- simple steps like chewing your food carefully can make its job much easier!
   • Eating 4-6 small meals is more efficient than eating 1-3 large meals.
4. Eat more "healing foods," fewer processed foods.
5. Drink 6-10 cups of non-caffeinated fluids daily.
6. Use supplements rationally and consistently.
7. Address social and emotional isolation, as these factors can negatively influence your food choices.