Summer 2001
Fall 2000
Winter 2000
Sharon Dina

Welcome to our second edition of "Guardian Update" !!! In keeping with our theme, Knowledge = Power,  we are proud to include a second article by Sharon Dina about blood lipids.  If you  have other ideas of topics of importance to people living with HIV/AIDS, you can send your comments and ideas to GuardianHealth@aol.com  This newsletter needs support, and we are grateful to Unimed and Sharon Dina for supplying us with this series of articles about the importance of Nutrition and HIV.


►Second in importance after the essential fats are the monounsaturated fats found in olives and olive oil, canola oil, avocados, and macadamia nuts.  These fats supply good energy calories without harmful effects.

The next group of fats--saturated--has come under attack lately as a cause of heart disease.  Saturated fats are not the enemy.  Saturated fats become a problem when they are your
only source of fats.   On my list, they come in third, after you've met your goal for essential fats and monounsaturated fats. In our imperfect world, saturated fats become a problem, not for what they are, but for what they hold. Fats in meats hold the toxins that the animal was exposed to while it was alive, such as antibiotics., hormones, and pesticide residues.   That's the real reason why you want to eat less saturated fats.   Choosing lean cuts of meat -picking ones with "loin" or "round" in their name, and trimming all the "white stuff" off--will keep your intake of saturated fats low.

The one group of fat that should be avoided, however, are the "transfats" or hydrogenated fats.  This is where it gets ugly.  These guys are everywhere.  They are the processed fats found in processed foods--snack foods, margarine, crackers, commercial peanut butter.  The problem  with transfats is that they are saturated fats AND they increase our consumption in an unnatural proportion.  Speaking of unnatural, these fats are synthetically processed and because of this, they wreak havoc with our metabolism.  Keep in mind the phrase from the old margarine commercial:  "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature"!

While we're on the subject of processed foods, let's talk about carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates can be anything that started out life as a plant.  They can be vegetables and fruits, but, unfortunately, the majority  of carbohydrates are processed foods:  chips, breads, cookies, crackers, sugar, soft drinks, candy, snack cakes--the list goes on?


"Sharon Says:"

Beating the Blood Lipid Blues
By Sharon Dina


It used to be that high cholesterol numbers (including triglycerides, which play an important role in your total cholesterol) were some of the last things to worry about in HIV nutrition.  They just didn't exist.  But, since the advent of Protease Inhibitors, we're seeing them soar more and more. Because of the way PIs work in the liver, they interfere with your body's ability to get rid of "used" cholesterol, so it builds up in the blood.  Does this mean if you're taking PIs, you should stop?  Of course not! What it does mean is that you need to take other measures to keep your cholesterol numbers low.  Fortunately, a proper diet can help.  The type of foods you choose to eat can determine whether or not your body makes an excess of cholesterol.  Let's talk about fats first.

Fats come in many forms, some good, some not so good, and some just downright ugly.  The good fats are what are called "essential fatty acids" and they are just that: essential for life.   The more of these essential fats we include in our diet, in relation to other fats, the better our bodies can function.  When we choose fish, especially cold water, "fatty" fish, flaxseed, nuts like walnuts, almonds, and pecans,and seeds like pumpkin and sunflower seeds, our bodies get their needed supply of essential fats.


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