I keep hearing about taking these two drugs with high fat food, but lating I read to take Novir with high protein food. What's the latest. It's tough to take high fat if you have problems with triglicerides and cholesterol as side effects. And how many grams of fat or protein are we talking about? Much obliged for your response.

RJ, Houston

Thanks for helping to clarify. The key is first that food is needed mostly to help with minimizing side effects that often happen when people taking these on an empty stomach, such as nausea, and diarrhea. Ritonavir is well absorbed even on an empty stomach, so the type of food is less important. Saquinavir (fortovase) is better absorbed with food, and it likely does not matter if it is more fat or more protein, and with norvir around, it probably matters even less.

So if the triglycerides/cholesterol is high - then adhering to a lower fat diet certainly makes sense - and you can safely take the two meds with a high protein meal instead. And I wouldn't worry about grams of protein - any decent meal should be fine. And be sure to check those lipids after your diet change to make sure it helped - it probably is worth getting those numbers down however you can.

CC