HIV Nutrition Counseling

HIV and AIDS increase your body's energy needs. Learn how to increase your calories throughout the day.

When you are HIV positive, it is important to eat enough calories because HIV infection increases your body's energy needs. A calorie is a way of measuring the energy that food supplies. It is good to eat a lot of high energy food like complex carbohydrates or starches (whole-grain breads and cereal, pasta, potatoes, and rice). Fruits, vegetables, and simple sugars also give your body quick energy. Fats give you extra energy to burn and build body fat. If you don't eat enough calories from carbohydrates, your body will break down your muscles for energy. You may not have an appetite if you become sick; you may notice that you are gradually losing weight. This represents an "emergency" situation; call your dietitian/nutritionist right away.

To increase your calorie intake:

• Eat six small meals throughout the day.
• Keep snacks that don't require refrigeration near your bed or by the television.
• Pack non-perishable food to snack on when you are away from home.
• Engage in light exercise before you eat to increase your appetite.

Complex starches or carbohydrates are the best type of energy to build and maintain your muscle tissue. Eat generous portions of: pasta (whole wheat or enriched macaroni, spaghetti or noodles), rice (brown or white), barley, millet, tabouli, and couscous. Also choose oatmeal, cream of wheat, rice cereal, corn meal, grits and cold cereals. In addition, breads, tortillas, muffins, biscuits, crackers, dumplings, pancakes and waffles are good. And potatoes, yams, plantain, yucca, breadfruit, corn, green peas and lima beans offer special phytochemicals, as do cooked kidney beans, navy beans, black- eyed peas, and chickpeas.

• Snack on fresh or dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, pineapple, papaya, and prunes).
• Add jelly, jam, honey and maple syrup to hot and cold cereal, pancakes and waffles.
• Add honey, sugar, molasses or flavored syrup to milkshakes.
• Top ice cream, frozen or regular yogurt with fresh or dried fruit and syrup.
• Snack on cakes, pies, cookies, and candy between meals.

Don't let simple sugars replace more important protein and nutrient-rich foods. If your blood sugar is high or you have diabetes, adding simple sugars to your diet, such as table sugar, honey, syrup, soda and a lot of fruit juice, are not a good source of calories. Check with your health care provider or dietitian for more instructions.

This page last updated 1/7/09 07:04 PM