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Foods to avoid with cold sores are foods that are high in arginine and low in lysine. Get to know these specific foods and you will be amazed how quickly cold sores disappear.
You probably have heard of arginine and lysine. These are two amino acids that are present in most foods. Arginine and lysine have a big impact on the duration and frequency of cold sores.
Arginine and lysine work in the following way.
The herpes simplex virus is the root cause of all cold sores. A virus particle will enter a nerve cell at the surface and force it to create new virus. It will then explode the cell to release the cloned virus thus creating a huge open wound.
One of the main ingredients the cell must have to create new herpes virus is arginine. Your cells have special receptors that they use to store arginine.
Lysine and arginine compete for the same storage space. The cell cannot create new virus using lysine.
When you consume high levels of lysine, the lysine will take the place of some of the arginine. This creates a situation where the cell cannot support the production of new herpes virus because of low arginine levels.
A high lysine content in your cells often causes the herpes virus to give up and return to hibernation. You have just prevented a cold sore. Quite often you won't even know it.
These are a few of the foods to avoid with cold sores. Arginine levels are higher than lysine levels in these selections.
---- Anything that contains chocolate
---- Tree and bush nuts
---- Flax, sesame and most other seeds
---- Shell type seafood such as oysters and crab
---- Oats, barley, wheat and most other grains
---- Fruits such as grapes, oranges, tangerines
---- Many vegetables are ok, however onions, peas, brussel sprouts, and squash are high in arginine.
Fact is - it can be hard to avoid certain foods. Some should not be avoided. You will notice many of the foods on the avoid list have a high nutritional value and are important for your optimal health. You probably would not hurt yourself by avoiding these foods for just a week or so.
But, for your best health, do not avoid these foods for more than a couple weeks. It is not a wise cold sore prevention program. It is only to help with a current outbreak. These highly nutritional foods are important for a strong immune system. One that helps protect you from the cold sore virus.
An excellent alternative solution to avoiding foods you love is to increase your lysine during your cold sore event. Increasing intake of lysine will also help prevent future cold sores.
Here are some foods that are high in lysine and low in arginine. These foods will help balance the intake of some of the avoidance foods.
Fish (flounder is super-rich in lysine), chicken, beef, eggs, apples, papaya, beets, and all dairy products. Cheeses and yogurt are very rich in lysine. These will provide a preferred lysine to arginine ratio of 2 to 1.
Following a restricted diet, or intolerance of dairy products, may make these diet recommendations difficult or impossible for you. Vegetarians would certainly have problems with a cold sore diet.
A great way to reduce cold sores without the bother of a restricted diet is the use of a lysine supplement. Lysine usually comes in 500 mg. capsules and can be found anywhere. It is common to take 2000 mg. (4 caps) to 4000 mg. (8 caps) daily during the cold sore and two capsules daily as a maintenance dose to prevent cold sores.
Is lysine safe to take in large quantity?
The short answer is YES. No negative side effects have ever been noted. Fact is, flounder, mentioned above, is so rich in lysine that an eight-ounce serving will provide 7000 mg. (7 grams) of lysine. Since food-source lysine is twice as absorbed as supplemental lysine, this is equivalent to about 24 capsules.
Do not give up the foods you love - especially chocolate. Eat additional high lysine food or take lysine capsules. This will cancel out the bad effects of the foods to avoid with cold sores.
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