Good nutrition is important for everyone’s health. Nutrition plays an important role in the health of the immune system and its ability to fight infection. Healthy eating also helps you become and stay a healthy weight, and can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis.

Having HIV is unlikely to mean that you have to make big changes to your diet. However, it is important to get enough nutrients to help you stay well. Good nutrition is important during the time before you start HIV treatment. It is also an important part of helping anti-HIV drugs work as well as possible once you are taking them.

If you are taking anti-HIV drugs it is important to eat a healthy, balanced diet, as HIV medication can cause changes to the way the body metabolises some fats and sugars.

A good diet will consist of a balance of the following types of food:

Starchy foods such as bread, cassava, cereals, green banana, millet, maize meal, potatoes, pasta, rice and yam. Starchy foods should form the basis of your diet – about a third of your food intake each day. They provide carbohydrates for energy, as well as minerals, vitamins and fibre. Wholegrain versions of rice, pasta and bread contain more fibre and often more vitamins and minerals as well.

Fruit and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and fibre. Try to eat five or more portions of fruit or vegetables each day. A portion is 80g, or roughly equal to:

• one medium-sized piece of fruit (such as an apple, pear or orange)
• two small pieces of fruit (such as a satsuma or plum)
• a large slice of a larger fruit such as pineapple or melon
• three heaped tablespoons of vegetables (these can be fresh, tinned or frozen). Vegetables such as potatoes and yams do not count towards your five-a-day target as they are counted as starchy foods.
• three heaped tablespoons of beans or pulses (only one portion of these counts towards your five-a-day target)
• a handful of dried fruit or a small glass of fresh fruit juice (like beans and pulses, juice only counts as one portion even if you drink more than a glass).

Fruit and vegetables can help protect against certain cancers and heart disease. They are low in fat, so increasing the proportion of your diet made up of them is helpful if you are trying to lose weight.

Dairy products, such as milk, cheese and yoghurt, provide vitamins, minerals and especially calcium. Some dairy foods are high in saturated fats, so should only be eaten in small quantities, or you could eat lower-fat versions of milk, cheese and yoghurt. If you cannot tolerate milk, then fortified soya, rice or oat milk, dark green leafy vegetables, dried figs, apricots and nuts are all good sources of calcium.

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and nuts provide protein, minerals and vitamins (particularly B12 from meat). Around 15% of your food intake should be from protein-rich food each day, or two portions a day. Try to eat two portions of fish a week, including at least one portion of oily fish.

Fats from cooking oils, butter and margarine, meat and other protein-based foods provide energy, essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K). Try to eat ‘unsaturated’ fats, such as those found in oily fish, nuts and seeds, avocados, olive oils and vegetable oils. The ‘saturated’ fats, found in meat, cheese, butter and many processed foods can raise cholesterol. These should only be eaten in small amounts.

Food and drinks high in fat or sugar should only be a small part of your diet. Too much of most sorts of food – but especially fats and sugars – can lead to unhealthy weight gain. See Maintaining a healthy weight for more information.

Salt and salty foods can lead to high blood pressure, if eaten in large amounts, and this can increase the possibility of having a stroke or developing heart disease. Adults and children over eleven should eat no more than 6g of salt a day, and younger children less.

Some foods are high in salt (for example, bacon, cheese, anchovies, gravy granules and stock cubes, ham, prawns, salami, salted and dry-roasted nuts, smoked meat and fish, salt fish, olives, soy sauce and yeast extract). Try to eat these less often or in smaller amounts.

Bread and breakfast cereals can add a lot of salt to your diet, especially if you eat a lot of them. Where possible, check the labels of foods such as sauces and dressings, breakfast cereals, crisps and tinned foods and choose varieties with lower levels of salt (and sugar).

Reduce the amount of salt you use in cooking. You could use more spices, fresh herbs, garlic and lemon to add flavour, for example.

Ready-made meals and other convenience foods are often high in salt, sugar and fat. Eating these too often can make it hard to have a healthy and balanced diet.

You can find out more about eating a balanced diet on the NHS Choices website at: www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood.