The effects of HIV / AIDS on Nutrition

The effects of HIV /AIDS on the Immune System

HIV has some very serious effects on the immune system and resultantly exposes a person to numerous opportunistic infections that have adverse effects on health. Serious damage to the immune system leads to a reduction of the CD4 cells and bring about the development of AIDS.

The presence of many infectious conditions in the body in turn interferes with nutritional capacities due to effects on appetite, digestive system like making eating and swallowing hard and interfering with the metabolic rate of the body. Loss of appetite, liver condition likes swelling, oral thrush, depression, and alcoholism, makes an HIV positive person to eat less than required.

Extreme nutritional standards should be observed to keep an HIV infected body healthy and strong by eating a balanced diet to counter the fast nutritional loss and the loss of muscle weight speeded up with the extreme presence of diseases that the body is exposed to.

HIV could also live in the intestine cells where they destroy digestive chemicals and the intestinal cells and end up reducing absorption of nutrients from food into the blood. This can lead to lactose intolerance and bloating.

Intestinal infection can also lead to diarrhea making food to go past the damaged intestines too fast before proper nutrient absorption.

Bleeding caused by worm infection can lead to iron deficiency. This should be carefully tackled as iron is very essential in the blood production which helps in transportation of nutrients and energy throughout the body system. Eating iron rich healthy food sources can help; liver, green leafy vegetables, egg yolk, turkey, tomato juice, potatoes, pork beef, lamb, and legumes. You should also eat lots of vitamin C food sources to help in the absorption of iron especially from plant sources.

Loss of weight from infections like TB, alteration of food usage process (HIV makes the body to use proteins instead of fats when it starts losing energy) and the change in metabolic rate makes the need for more nutritious food inevitable.

In order to prevent infecting an infant, a HIV positive mother should observe strict feeding guidelines which she finds convenient for her like resorting to formula feeding or exclusive breast feeding. This can be done with the supervision of a health practitioner for the achievement of having the baby nutritionally provided for without exposure to any health risks.

Observing high hygienic standards will help a HIV positive person not to pick infections as the immune system is very weak and can not possibly prevent their entrance.

There is need to observe all antiretroviral medication prescribed by the doctor together with healthy ary practices so as not to risk developing a resistant type of the HIV virus.

Stages

The world health organization (WHO) has subdivided HIV into four stages based on the level by which the HIV virus has affected the body.

Stage one

This is when one is already having the HIV virus but the body’s immune system is still strong and he has shown no symptoms in the past five years. Possibly the only problems so far are swellings of the lymph nodes.

Stage two

A HIV positive person is already showing infectious symptoms like tonsillitis, skin problems, ear infections and flu.

Stage three

A  HIV positive person has already lost over 10% of his body weight and is experiencing acute infection cases of diarrhea thrush in the mouth, Tb of the lung, pneumonia, and extreme fevers for over a month.

Stage four

During this stage, the CD4 cell count has dropped extensively and you are highly prone to infections like isospora diarrhea, toxoplasmosis stroke, PCP pneumonia, and cryptococcal meningitis.

It is known as the AIDs stage and other infections only associable with it start coming up such as, herpes sores lasting for over a month, thrush of the oesophagus (food track), TB in parts other than only in lungs, and some serious cancers only associated with HIV/AIDS like the cervical cancer, Kaporsi’s sarcoma, and lymphoma. HIV dementia also occurs as a result of brain cells having been damaged by the HIV virus.

What to Eat

Regardless of the HIV stage that one is in, healthy eating is very important in either regaining lost energy due to infection or prevention of possible HIV nutritionally related infection.

Eat some foods that have been found to improve the immune system like carrot, garlic, watermelon, cabbage, strawberries.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to provide white blood cells with vitamins for proper functioning in the strengthening of the immune system, and helps you to maintain a standard nutritional requirement.

Eat regular balanced meals proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins; at least three meals per day with some nutritious snack in between. This ensures proper functioning of all body organs.

Eating complex carbohydrates provides your body with the much needed energy to help in the fighting of the HIV/AIDS virus. This also protects you from loosing muscle (protein) that gets used up for energy incase the body lacks on fat to utilize for energy provision.

Carbohydrates

These are also known as energy giving foods and they are responsible for providing main organs in the body with required energy.

Potatoes, brown rice, wheat, bread, maize, plantain bananas, millet, sugar, sorghum, yams, oats, rye, palm tree oils, peanut oils and vegetable oils, are good for your health.

Proteins

These are called body building foods and their work is to see into the construction, repair and proper maintenance of body tissues.

They are very important in the maintenance of the immune system and promotion of resistance to the opportunistic infections which a HIV positive person is extremely prone to.

Soya, beans, peanuts, meat, chicken, fish, and eggs help to do your bodily repairs.

Vitamins

Are also known as protective foods as they keep you away from infection by greatly supporting the functions of the immune system and help in reducing progression of HIV/ AIDS.

Fruits: apple, straw berry, black currants, bananas, mangoes, avocado, oranges, pawpaw

Vegetables: broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, spinach, carrots,

Eat adequate amounts of food at every meal incorporating those that you love most to boost your appetite. Reduce consumption of fast foods as they are less nutritious.

Water

Drinking lots of fluids especially water, helps to transport nutrients, your body’s metabolism and helps in the cleansing of toxins, deposited in your body, as a result of the numerous drugs, that a HIV infected person is automatically subjected to take, because of the health condition. Water also helps to reduce dehydration mostly during and after a diarrhea attack. It also regulates body temperature.

Minerals

They play an important role in supporting the immune system and keeping the HIV positive person on his feet.

Calcium; help in skeletal development and keeping the bones strong and firm.

Selenium and zinc; are directly related with keeping the immune system active and deficiency could lead to increased progression of HIV to the AIDs stage.

Iron; for transport of oxygen throughout the body and helps in reduction of anemia cases especially in children who are HIV positive. 

Alcohol and smoking reduces nutritional absorption into the body and your ability to be able to feed healthily due to subsequent loss of appetite. The immune system also declines immensely increasing infection rate.

It is important to get engaged in adequate physical activities and exercises to assist your absorption of nutrients and to maintain a stable metabolic system. It is also good to keep you in overall good health.

Exercise can also help those who have suffered stroke to gain function ability of numbed limbs.