3. Eat a Healthy, Balanced Diet
There is no specific HIV diet, but experts generally recommend that your diet support your bones, heart, and immune system by lowering inflammation, improving nutrient absorption, and helping you maintain a healthy weight.
Your diet should include:
- Fiber-rich foods like whole grains, beans, and berries
- Monounsaturated fats like olive oil, avocado, and nuts
- Fatty fish, a good source of inflammation-lowering omega-3s and omega-6s
- Dietary calcium, from foods like leafy greens, dairy products, soy products, and seeds
- Dietary vitamin D, from foods like egg yolks, milk, and saltwater fish
- Protein from lean meats and plant-based proteins (limit red meat like beef)
- A variety of fruits and vegetables
Make sure to prioritize whole foods and limit your consumption of processed foods, saturated fats, sodium, and added sugar.
4. Practice Food and Water Safety
Developing good food and water safety habits can help you avoid food- and waterborne illnesses, which are more likely to be serious and last longer when you have HIV.
Some tips include:
- Avoid eating raw eggs, meats, and seafood
- Avoid consuming unpasteurized dairy products and fruit juices
- Wash your hands and food surfaces regularly
- Don’t cross-contaminate food during prep work
- Cook food to the proper temperature and store cooked food in the refrigerator or freezer
- Flush faucets and shower heads that haven’t been used in a while
- Clean, maintain, and properly store devices that use water, such as water flossers, humidifiers, and CPAP machines
5. Get Regular Physical Activity
Regular physical activity is recommended for everyone, including people with HIV. Exercise confers a wide range of immediate and long-term benefits, from relieving stress, improving sleep, and increasing energy to strengthening heart and bone health, maintaining a healthy weight, and boosting brain health.
Federal guidelines stress 150 minutes of moderate activity a week — or 75 minutes of more vigorous activity, or some combination of the two — plus muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week.
This may seem daunting if exercise is not part of your normal routine, “but there are so many different things people can do to get exercise,” Blumenthal says, adding that dancing, taking stairs, and walking your dog all count.
6. Mind Your Oral Health
Mouth problems — including ulcers, cold sores, periodontal disease, and more — are often an early indication of an HIV infection and are common among people with HIV.
This is because the virus weakens the immune system and can reduce your saliva, which protects your teeth and gums from plaque.
Both people with and without HIV should see a dentist twice yearly, Blumenthal says. “But it’s something I find myself talking about with my patients with HIV more so than with patients without,” she says, “and that’s related to the inflammation and the increase in gum disease that patients living with HIV can experience.”
Other tips for oral care include brushing your teeth two to three times a day (with toothpaste that contains fluoride), flossing every night, using a fluoride mouthwash, and not using tobacco products.
7. Quit Smoking, Limit Alcohol, and Avoid Recreational Drugs
“Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are habits we often try to help [people with HIV] modify,” Chow says. These habits are known to reduce the length and quality of your life if you have HIV.
Smoking is linked to a poorer HIV-treatment response and can increase your risk of many health conditions, including cancer, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and heart disease.
Heavy drinking and illicit drug use can damage your liver, weaken your immune system, and potentially interact with HIV medications.
8. Prioritize Your Mental Health and Build a Support System
Unmanaged stress, anxiety, or depression can affect the body as well as the mind. Since poor mental health can affect how a person follows their treatment routine, it could potentially increase your viral load if you’re not consistently taking your medications.
You are also more likely to experience depression and anxiety due to everyday stresses related to things like HIV stigma, as well as the effects of HIV-related inflammation on the brain and nervous system.
Because of this, and the fact that poor mental health affects medication adherence, mental health care is a core part of HIV treatment.
Some ways you can take care of your mental health include seeing a therapist or counselor, taking prescription medications, practicing meditation or yoga, developing a sense of purpose (whether from work, hobbies, or helping others), and staying socially connected.
Social support is especially important, due to the ongoing epidemic of loneliness affecting people with HIV.
“Our HIV patients — many of whom have gotten older, and many of whose cohort passed away, first due to the [HIV] epidemic early on, and now more than ever as people age — are lonely,” Chow says. Loneliness has been linked to early death and cognitive decline, so finding social support and community is important for both your physical and mental health.
If you or anyone else is in crisis, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, available 24/7.