Trial one:

481 Thai HIVers not on HIV meds were monitored; those with less than 200 CD4 cells who took a high-dose 21-nutrient supplement for one year had 61 percent fewer deaths than a placebo group, though without boosts in CD4s or drops in viral loads. “The likeliest theory,” says study co-leader Andrew Tomkins, MD, “is that the high doses of antioxidants helped reduce tissue damage” and thus improved immune-cell function, if not numbers.

Trial two:

In an eight-year study of 1,078 pregnant Tanzanian HIVers not on HAART, those on a superpowered three-vitamin combo experienced 30 percent less disease and death than a placebo group. This time, vitamin-takers’ CD4 counts rose and viral loads fell “irrespective of [their original level of] nutritional deficiency,” says study director Wafaie Fawzi, MD, of Harvard University. While cautioning that “it’s hard to generalize findings from Africa to the U.S.,” Fawzi says, “it is possible that these supplements could benefit” American HIVers, who are generally better nourished.

Trial three:

And in a 12-week study of 40 U.S. HIVers on HAART, the CD4 counts of those who added a 33-item high-dose nutrient formula jumped 24 percent versus 2 percent for placebo poppers.

The studies used different formulas, but all had antioxidants and high doses (see “Getting a Complex,” below). All packed vitamins C and E; the Thais added zinc and selenium; the U.S. trial added alpha-lipoic acid, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and acetyl-l-carnitine. (Study leader Jon Kaiser, MD, thinks these ingredients, along with the superdose levels, “caused the CD4 rises in such a short time.”) No study reported nutrient side effects.

More African and Asian studies are underway, and Kaiser is trying to launch a larger U.S. trial.