Diet and AIDS May be Linked

“The conventional belief that HIV-1 alone causes AIDS is incorrect,” says Dr. Harold Foster, a medical geographer and UVic professor, in his new book What Really Causes AIDS. “Instead, AIDS involves HIV-1 together with a multiplicity of co-factors, specifically anything that either depletes serum selenium levels or depresses the immune system enough to permit viral replication.” Foster, who has written widely on selenium and its effects on health, points out that the genetic code of HIV-1 includes a gene that is identical to that of the human enzyme, glutathione peroxidase. This enzyme consists of four substances--selenium, cysteine, glutamine and tryptophan--that is, one trace element and three amino acids. As the virus is replicated , its host is robbed of these nutrients. Eventually, extreme deficiencies of all four occur, the combined symptoms of which are known as AIDS.
It is Foster’s theory that supplementing AIDS patients’ diets with these four nutrients could open new avenues for both prevention and treatment. “My book presents an alternative hypothesis that, if correct, provides novel strategies for stopping the spread of HIV-1 and for treating AIDS,” says Foster. What Really Causes AIDS can be viewed online at www.geocities.com/fosterhd/

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