Nutrition as part of your HIV care plan

Nutrition as part of your HIV care plan

Good nutrition is an important part of your HIV care plan.

Although there is still no cure for HIV, HAART has given many people with HIV hope and renewed health. While nutritional strategies cannot replace HAART, good nutrition can be an important part of your overall HIV care plan. In the time before you start HAART—which might last from a few weeks to many years after your diagnosis—good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are two important strategies to maintain good health and quality of life. And once you start HAART, nutrition is still an important component of your plan to keep yourself healthy and your body’s immune system strong.

Nutrition’s role in other chronic diseases

In recent years a great deal of attention has been paid to the role of nutrition in preventing illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers—conditions that are thought to be influenced by nutrition and lifestyle. People with HIV are at increased risk of developing these conditions due to the virus itself or to the side effects of HAART. People with HIV are also living longer and getting older, which incurs a whole range of health concerns that can be influenced by nutrition and lifestyle. All this to say that by reading this book you are taking care of much more than just HIV.