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Carol is 29 and increasingly exhausted, despite a high CD4 count and undetectable viral load. She manages this with caffeine and sugar fixes throughout the day, and collapses on the sofa with a takeaway each night. Her doctors have only found thrush after exhaustive tests, and suggested her diet may be the cause.

illustration by rose hardy

The body is in a continuous state of breakdown and rebuilding as old cells are dismantled and replacements built. Although some building blocks are recycled from dead cells, we need additional quality nutrients in our diet to help the body manufacture new cells. We also need enough carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, protein, vitamins and minerals to help maintain us in optimal health.
The body requires these to be supplied at the right time, and in the right combinations to help it fully absorb these nutrients from our gut, much like our combination therapy. When we take any medication, we learn when to take it, what foods help our body absorb it, and what foods don't.
Similarly when we take food as medicine we need to understand what combinations of food help absorption, and what foods don't.
When we take medication, we need to take enough for it to be effective. Similarly when we use food as medicine we need to absorb enough amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals for these medicines to be effective.
Some medicine is difficult for our bodies to detoxify and dispose of. Similarly some food is full of trans-fats, additives and pesticides that our liver is unable to cope with.
In other words whatever we swallow - whether pill or pizza, can help or hinder our body fighting disease.

So how can we ensure that the food we eat is helping our body rather than harming it?
As with any medicine we need to first understand what our body needs, in what