• Your normal diet may well be sufficient to meet your nutritional requirements – HIV alone rarely means that people have to make major changes to their diet.
• A side-effect of anti-HIV drugs called lipodystrophy may mean that you have to change your diet to avoid blood abnormalities which are associated with the condition and with an increased risk of heart disease – see the booklet in this series called Lipodystrophy for more details.
• People with HIV rarely need to take special nutritional supplements, some of which can be harmful or stop HIV drugs working properly.
• You should take care with food and water safety to avoid picking up infections, particularly if your CD4 count is low.
• Some anti-HIV drugs have special dietary requirements – these should be explained to you when you start or change treatment.
• It is important to continue to eat and drink properly even if you experience side-effects or are ill because of HIV – a dietitian may be able to help.
• Diarrhoea is common in people with HIV, either as a drug related side-effect or due to HIV itself or infection. Changes in diet can help.