Should I be concerned about losing weight and muscle? Weight loss of as little as 5 percent of body weight can greatly increase the risk of complications and disease progression in patients with HIV/AIDS.1
Preventing weight loss and muscle loss may make you feel stronger, which may help you be more active and improve your quality of life.
How much is 5 percent weight loss? Not as much as you might think. If you have dropped just a small amount of weight, you may have already lost 5 percent of your usual body weight. As an example, if you normally weigh 150 pounds and you lose only 7-1/2 pounds, you have lost 5 percent of your usual body weight.
Can Juven help me gain weight and muscle? Juven has been clinically shown to help build muscle and support immune function in people with HIV/AIDS.2 Just two packets of Juven a day as part of a complete, balanced diet may help you gain weight and muscle.
What is lean body mass? Lean body mass is functional tissue that is vital for life.3 Specifically, it consists of all components of the body (muscle, bones, organs, skin) except fat. Maintaining LBM is essential for strength, organ function, skin integrity, wound healing and immunity. You may be losing LBM if you have weakness, fatigue, lack of strength or energy, loss of appetite, early satiety (feeling full sooner than normal or after eating less than usual), or weight loss.
Why do people living with HIV/AIDS lose weight and muscle? People with HIV/AIDS often lose weight because they burn too many calories, because they do not eat enough food or both. Medications and their side effects, such as nausea and diarrhea, can lead to loss of appetite and reduced food intake.
Simply eating more food may not be enough to help you gain weight and muscle. HIV causes changes in metabolism — the way the body uses food for energy. These changes in metabolism can make the body burn more calories than normal and break down muscle and fat.
What is muscle wasting? Muscle wasting is what happens when the body breaks down the protein in muscle for energy. This breakdown causes your body to lose muscle and your organs to not work as well as they should. Even if your weight stays the same, your body may still be breaking down muscle for energy.
Loss of muscle and organ tissue can make it harder for you to get better after an illness and stay mobile and active. The effects of muscle wasting are serious and can affect both quality of life and survival. Maintaining muscle and organ tissue is vital for people living with HIV/AIDS.
What about immune function? For people with HIV/AIDS, nutrition and immune function are closely related.4 Good nutrition may help strengthen immune function.4 Special ingredients in nutritional products may also support immune function.2
What is Juven and how can it help? Juven is a therapeutic nutrition drink designed to help build and maintain lean body mass. Juven contains a patented blend of three key ingredients — HMB, arginine and glutamine.
- HMB (β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate) helps muscle cells produce the cholesterol they need to maintain cell strength and structure without raising blood cholesterol. HMB may also help build support immune function.
- Arginine is an amino acid (building block of protein) that is key for building muscle and for immune cell development.
- Glutamine is an amino acid that is key for building muscle and fueling immune cells and gastrointestinal (GI) cells.
By working together, these three ingredients will build muscle, slow protein breakdown from muscle and support the immune system.
Has Juven been studied? Yes, Juven was tested with people who had experienced AIDS-associated muscle wasting. The study showed that Juven helped increase muscle and support immune function.2 Juven users gained both body weight and lean tissue. Immune status in the Juven users improved as well — CD3 and CD8 T cell subsets increased and viral load decreased.
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