Good nutrition is crucial for a person living with HIV or AIDS. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is essential to maintain and build lean muscle mass and maintain proper weight. It will also help boost your immune system, which may in turn protect you from opportunistic infections. A well-balanced diet will include adequate amounts of protein, complex carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.

In addition to learning about a healthy diet you may have concerns about the side effects of medications and symptoms of opportunistic infections such as diarrhea, nausea, and loss of appetite. These side effects and symptoms can be managed or signficantly reduced by appropriate dietary modifications.

Why Nutrition Matters Good nutrition is critical for people living with HIV and AIDS. Basically, nutrition should be viewed as an essential co-therapy that can help maximize your medical management of HIV. Eating well can help:

Helpful Protein supplement combination

Prevent or delay the loss of muscle tissue or "wasting" Strengthen the immune system Reduce viral mutations Decrease the incidence and severity of opportunistic infections and hospitalizations Lessen the debilitating symptoms of HIV/AIDS If you're HIV infected, it's important to avoid any unplanned weight loss, which can further weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection. Eating enough food--and the right foods--to maintain your proper weight, and keeping your body strong can make a real difference in staying healthy. Generally speaking, people with HIV/AIDS should try to eat a diet that is 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. And eat 3-5 vegetable servings and 2-4 fruit servings every day