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Helping You Feel Your Best!
Nutrition Tips for People with Hepatitis C
Contents:
Hepatitis C harms your liver. Your liver plays many important
roles. It deals with everything you eat and drink. A healthy lifestyle
can help you feel your best and help your body cope with the hepatitis
C virus.
Healthy eating and moderate physical activity can:
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give your body the energy it needs to work well,
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boost your immune system,
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help your liver renew itself, and
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decrease some of the symptoms of your hepatitis C and the
side effects of treatment, such as feeling tired and sick.
Eat well
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Choose a variety of foods from all four food groups of Canada's Food
Guide to Healthy Eating.
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Get plenty of Grain Products and Vegetables & Fruit.
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Eat at least 2 servings from the Meat & Alternatives
food group (such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, peanut butter,
and dried beans, peas and lentils).
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Focus on lower fat choices within each food group.
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Drink 6 to 8 glasses of fluids every day.
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Keep your energy level up by eating smaller meals and snacks
more often.
Supplement carefully
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Use only herbal products that your health care provider has
told you are safe.
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Do not take more than one multivitamin per day - and
you may need one without iron. Talk to your health care provider
about which vitamin and mineral supplements are best for you.
Take care
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Avoid alcohol.
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Enjoy light to moderate physical activity, such as walking,
swimming, gardening and stretching.
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Build up slowly to 30 to 60 minutes of activity, at least
4 times a week.
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Avoid food poisoning by storing and preparing foods safely.
Wash your hands often.
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Talk to your health care provider if depression affects your
ability to eat well.
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If you have complications...
… such as cirrhosis or fluid retention, you need to pay
even more attention to nutrition.
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Get tailored
advice from your doctor or dietitian.
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Eat smaller meals every few hours. This may be easier for your
body to handle and will help keep your energy level up.
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You may need to limit your intake of salt if you have swelling
of the abdomen (ascites) or legs (edema).
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Try extra-strength liquid nutrition supplements, available
from your local pharmacy. Some examples are: Boost Plus Calories®,
Ensure Plus®, Resource Plus®.
Low-Cost Nutritious Choices
Eating well doesn't have to be expensive. Low-cost nutritious
choices can be found in each food group:
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bread, rice, pasta, rolled oats
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carrots, potatoes, frozen vegetables, apples, in-season berries
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milk powder, plain milk or yogurt
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baked beans, eggs, dried beans, peas and lentils, canned
fish, ground beef
For more tips, see Appendices
G and H of the full
Guidelines.
![Haut de Page](/web/20061210223227im_/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/gfx/pi_top_of_page.gif) Some Useful On-line Resources
Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating
Call your local public
health unit
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/onpp-bppn/
food_guide_rainbow_e.html
Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living
Call your local public health unit or 1-888-334-9769
www.paguide.com
Dietitians of Canada: Eat Well, Live Well section
Includes Your Nutrition Profile, Meal Planner and Virtual Kitchen tour, nutrition
information and tools to compare food choices to recommendations, and personalized
advice for making improvements.
www.dietitians.ca/eatwell
Food Safety information and materials
www.canfightbac.org
Nutrition labelling education materials
www.healthcanada.ca/nutritionlabelling
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
nccam.nih.gov/health/hepatitisc/index.htm
Heppo Recipe Exchange
Recipes submitted by other people infected with the hepatitis C virus; not
specifically "HepC healthy" unless noted.
www.hepcnet.net/recipes/recipeindex.html
Hepatitis C and Food
Hepatitis C Council of New South Wales, February 2002
www.hepatitisc.org.au/other_resources/food_brochure.htm
Health Canada hepatitis C information
www.healthcanada.ca/hepc
Other Resources
Consult the organizations listed across the bottom of this handout.
![Haut de Page](/web/20061210223227im_/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/gfx/pi_top_of_page.gif) How to Find a Registered Dietitian
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Visit www.dietitians.ca and search "Find a Nutrition
Professional."
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Call your local public health department, hospital or community
health centre.
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Call the Consulting Dietitians Network at 1-888-901-7776.
Registered Dietitians can help you meet your nutrition needs by
designing a personal meal plan.
You definitely should see a Registered Dietitian if you
have:
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complications related to advanced liver disease, such as cirrhosis
or fluid retention
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another medical condition, such as diabetes or HIV
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a problem with weight loss or weight gain
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diarrhea for more than 3 days
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trouble eating well
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diagnosis of fluid retention requiring a low salt diet
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This handout is based on Hepatitis
C: Nutrition Care - Canadian
Guidelines for Health Care Providers, 2003.
www.dietitians.ca/resources/index.html
www.healthcanada.ca/hepc
Another handout in this series is available, Dealing with Discomforts:
Nutrition Tips for People with Hepatitis C.
This information is not meant to replace the medical counsel of
your doctor or consultation with a Registered Dietitian.
© Dietitians of Canada, 2003. May only be reproduced in its entirety
and provided source is acknowledged. Produced with funding from Health
Canada. The opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily
reflect the official policies or views of Health Canada.
![Haut de Page](/web/20061210223227im_/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/gfx/pi_top_of_page.gif) Organizations
Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver
www.lhsc.on.ca/casl
Canadian Association of Hepatology Nurses
www.livernurses.org
Canadian Hemophilia Society
www.hemophilia.ca
1-800-668-2686
Canadian Liver Foundation
www.liver.ca
1-800-563-5483
Hepatitis C Society of Canada
www.hepatitiscsociety.com
1-800-652-HepC (4372)
Brought to you by:
Dietitians of Canada ![Haut de Page](/web/20061210223227im_/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/gfx/pi_top_of_page.gif)
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