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HIV/AIDS & Depression | Fighting Both with Diet and Exercise

HIV/AIDS & Depression | Fighting Both with Diet and Exercise

Hey Sis! Can you believe it’s spring time already? One great thing about Spring is that the constant dark and gloomy days begin to get more sparse as time goes on. One thing about winter, is that it brings on something called seasonal depression disorder. Becoming depressed, simply because it’s getting colder outside is really a thing, and coupled with a recent HIV/AIDS diagnosis, can mean tough times. The weather clearing up isn’t the only thing that can be done to fight this tragic combination, and leaving your happiness completely up to the time of year isn’t the recommended way to go.

Being more proactive before hard times hit

Here at BGH we provide a lot of information on wellness whether it be recipes, exercise routines, and even information on mental health. A lot of this information is meant to be proactive so that you can nip problems in the bud, and this article is no different. Using diet and exercise is a great way to leverage your resources to aid in fighting off depression.  When you have an immune infection such as HIV/AIDS, your body is constantly fighting of the virus. In this situation, it’s a great idea to use diet and exercise to be proactive about your mental and physical health. Since your body is fighting so hard, nutrients that your body would otherwise use to create more dopamine, and other “happy hormones”, are being quickly depleted. Making sure that you are eating enough of the right foods and exercising to replenish these nutrients so that your body has enough to fight infection and produce “happy Hormones”.

What types of foods should I eat?

There is a variety of different steps you can take in order to to prepare your body to fight disease and depression. Starting out with a whole foods plant based diet is the best way to get yourself on track. Including many different types of fruits and vegetables in your diet is the best way to make sure you’re getting all of the nutrients you need, and in decent amounts. You also want to make sure you’re eating foods high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids (or a supplement), because Omega-3’s are amazing at fighting both disease and depression. Salomon, and Tuna are good examples of foods high in Omega-3’s.

What type of exercise should I do?

When it comes to exercise almost anything will be beneficial to you. Aerobic exercise is a great option because it helps to improve your heart health, and will keep your blood flowing. Blood flow is vital to getting nutrients and oxygen throughout your body to help it fight disease. In addition to fighting disease, Aerobic exercise stimulates the brain to produce these feel good hormones, that will help you fight off depression as well. Even if you do more low-intensity workouts, over time your brain’s hippocampus will grow larger, and according to Harvard a small hippocampus is linked to depression. Cycling, Running, a brisk walk, and dancing are all good examples of aerobic exercise.

So that is some information on how to fight HIV/AIDS and depression with diet and exercise.  I hope that this helps someone and motivates them to be more proactive about their mental and physical health, and As always, you can also get more information on HIV/AIDS from the U.S. National Library of Medicine here at their MedlinePlus website.

Live your best life sis!

XoXo

Nikki

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