POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Nutrition & HIV => Topic started by: John2038 on March 21, 2009, 03:05:35 pm
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It's the second time I heard from an ID doc to avoid IRON SUPLLEMENT as it help the virus as well, on or out of meds.
Another think I heard 2 or 3 time is to avoid GARLIC, ST JOHN'S WORT and AFRICAN POTATO while on meds (confirmed by the article below).
Now I don't know if the meaning of "avoid" is to cut or is it to avoid at +/- 2h before/after popping the pills (HAART).
Another think I heard or read is the ECCHINICEA on or out of meds but I don't know why.
I felt lucky to have heard such things, and I am very probably missing a lot of others tips to know while HIV+.
Maybe some of you could provide a feedback and possibly link to a study ?
Some of the most concerning herbal supplement interactions seen so far are:
* African potato: This herb is widely used in Africa by people with HIV, but test tube studies have shown that the body uses the same mechanism to process it as it does for HIV drugs, meaning that not enough anti-HIV drug may get into the blood.
* Garlic: Supplements of garlic have been shown to stop the body processing protease inhibitors and NNRTIs properly. A study involving HIV-negative volunteers taking a protease inhibitor found that a twice-daily garlic supplement lowered blood concentrations of the protease inhibitor. This finding is very concerning as garlic is often taken by people with high levels of fat in their blood, and high blood fats can be a side-effect of anti-HIV drugs. However, there is no evidence that garlic used for cooking interacts with HIV medicines.
* St John’s wort: This popular herbal antidepressant has been shown to lower blood levels of indinavir and the UK’s Medicines Control Agency has warned that it could affect blood levels of all protease inhibitors and the NNRTIs efavirenz and nevirapine.
* Sutherlandia: A herb which is used in Africa for the treatment of people with HIV has been shown by laboratory studies to interact with anti-HIV drugs.
High doses of vitamins and minerals
There is little evidence that taking ‘mega’ doses of vitamins and minerals have any benefit. Indeed, it is worth noting that large doses of some can cause very unpleasant side-effects and can even be dangerous.
* Vitamin A: Doses above 9000 micrograms in men and 7500 micrograms in women may be harmful. Large amounts can cause liver and bone damage, vomiting and headache. If you are pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant, you should talk to your doctor before taking vitamin A as large doses can harm an unborn child.
* Vitamin C: Doses above 1000mg per day can cause kidney stones, and special care is needed if you are taking the protease inhibitor indinavir which can also cause kidney stones. It has also been shown that large doses of vitamin C can lower blood levels of indinavir.
* Vitamin E: Doses above 800mg a day may interfere with normal immune function. Special care is needed if you are taking anti-coagulants or if you have haemophilia.
* Zinc: Doses above 75mg a day have been linked with copper deficiency, a shortage of immune system cells called neutrophils, and anaemia. One study found that taking above 15mg a day increased the risk of developing HIV-related symptoms.
* Selenium: Doses of more than 750 micrograms per day have been associated with immune suppression.
* Vitamin B6: More than 2g a day can cause nerve damage, but doses as low as 50mg a day have been associated with peripheral neuropathy.
Source (http://www.aidsmap.com/en/docs/A070DCAE-59AB-40A9-B03C-1D85286973A6.asp)
Note
Please cross check with your health care provider
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I remember reading a study that zinc and vitamin A have the "U-shape" risk... too little or too much increases the HIV progression. Niacin is associated with slower progression. Vitamin C has no effect regardless of amount. I will look up and come back with you. :)
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Found it... here's the link:
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/135/4/938#T1
"Lower plasma levels of vitamin A (5), vitamin E (6), and vitamin B-12 (7) were related to faster disease progression. Biochemical markers may be limited in their correlation with underlying nutritional status. Low vitamin A, for example, is associated with the acute-phase response to infection (8) and may be a marker of HIV disease stage rather than a reflection of limited liver stores of the nutrient. Reverse causality may provide another explanation for the association between low plasma concentrations and health outcomes: HIV infection could adversely affect absorption and metabolism of nutrients, leading to biochemical deficiency."
Hope you find it helpful.
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Found it... here's the link:
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/135/4/938#T1
"Lower plasma levels of vitamin A (5), vitamin E (6), and vitamin B-12 (7) were related to faster disease progression. Biochemical markers may be limited in their correlation with underlying nutritional status. Low vitamin A, for example, is associated with the acute-phase response to infection (8) and may be a marker of HIV disease stage rather than a reflection of limited liver stores of the nutrient. Reverse causality may provide another explanation for the association between low plasma concentrations and health outcomes: HIV infection could adversely affect absorption and metabolism of nutrients, leading to biochemical deficiency."
Hope you find it helpful.
Are you poz? If you are I don't think you are allowed to post in the nutrition forum.
Sorry to sound protective, but I am
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Oh, he's been asked repeatedly in Am I Infected forums to adhere to posting guidelines as specified in the Welcome thread, but he generally lashes out when the request is made. I just reported it.
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Now, I got it.. I HAVE to be POZ to post it? Thought I got a weirdo rebuking me for something. He wasn't clear and kept telling me to read guidlines with NO "link" to what he was talking about. Just saying, "You are NOT POZ therefore you cannot post" would be sufficient.
The welcome display said, "Welcome to the AIDSmeds/POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS."
So, I thought it was for anyone who have dealt with HIV/AIDS, directly or indirectly (indirect in my case). My apologies.
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I'd like to toss in my two pennies and say I hope we all (myself included) can avoid making anyone feel unwelcome if we can help it... :) As far as I can tell, he was just offering what helpful information he could... and as far as I can tell, there are no guidelines stating that this particular forum is restricted in any way.
My first day participating here, I actually was extraordinarily ill and wanted to feel as though SOMETHING good were coming out of my day, and posted a reply to someone in the "Am I Infected?" page without reading the whole welcome thread... You know what the moderator response would have been, and being one who doesn't much like being told what to do, I was a little rude, as well. Of course I avoided stepping on toes in the future, but I at first felt like my contributions weren't welcome here - which of course isn't true, but that particular forum is uniquely sensitive. It did feel a little insulting and belittling, though, and I'd be sad to know anyone else felt that way in a forum on this site if it's avoidable. As long as guidelines are being followed, and I think all the guidelines are being followed here unless there's something I'm not seeing, I think that informed discussion is always important.
End of gentle, general admonition! ;)
As to the specific topic of this thread: some studies have shown that selenium is great for HIVers in moderation - the 750 mg warning is definitely the upper limit but anywhere between 200 mg and 400 mg a day seems to be beneficial...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6623631.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6623631.stm)
http://www.thebody.com/content/living/art39550.html (http://www.thebody.com/content/living/art39550.html)
Then there's this, which has a slightly different "conclusion," which I put in quotation marks to make a point about how "conclusive" any of this is...
http://blog.naturalstandard.com/natural_standard_blog/2008/07/selenium-supple.html (http://blog.naturalstandard.com/natural_standard_blog/2008/07/selenium-supple.html)
But then there's this...
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/1667_11158.shtml (http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/1667_11158.shtml)
So, I take selenium... but not more than 600 mg a day. ;)
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I'd like to toss in my two pennies and say I hope we all (myself included) can avoid making anyone feel unwelcome if we can help it... :) As far as I can tell, he was just offering what helpful information he could... and as far as I can tell, there are no guidelines stating that this particular forum is restricted in any way.
Then I suggest you take a look at some of the forum guidelines yourself so that you will know in the future how the forums are operated.
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Rodney,
Carpediem is actually correct when he says that there are no specific posting guidelines for this particular forum. He means there's no Nutrition Forum Welcome Thread. Perhaps there should be.
However, it's also true that anyone who reads the Am I Infected Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) like one is supposed to before posting (the thread's full title is WELCOME (please read before posting), they would know where they can and cannot post.
We have very good reasons for the posting guidelines governing the Am I Infected forum and its participants. We used to let anyone post where there wanted in that forum and the result was that the moderators spent most of their time correcting misinformation that was being given out. It was chaos and not helpful for anyone.
We do not allow participants (those who are asking questions) of the Am I Infected forum to post elsewhere in the forums because nine times out of ten, they ask insensitive questions, make insensitive comments, or ask questions that that should be dealt with in the correct forum - namely the Am I Infected forum.
I don't normally have a problem with an hiv negative person contributing information in the nutrition or research forums - provided it is backed up with links to reputable sites. I do, however, have a problem with people who do this and then when they're given that inch, proceed to take a mile and start posting everywhere. It has happened frequently in the past, so now we do tend to nip such activities in the bud.
We have the posting guidelines we do simply to keep this as a place where hiv positive people feel safe and where the transmission and testing information is accurate and up-to-date. The guidelines have come out of years of running this forum - around nine years now. They haven't been created on a whim.
Now, can we all please stop the hijack of this thread. It's supposed to be about what food/supplements to avoid, not which forums to avoid. ;)
Ann