Cold Sore Treatment: Foods to Avoid

Foods to avoid with cold sores are usually containing high levels of arginine (amino acid) and low amount of lysine. These two common amino acids can be found in food and they both have influence on cold sores.

Arginine is used by cells to build new herpes virus and corresponds to a protein fraction. There is a storage area within the nerve cell, where arginine is stored. But the same storage is used to keep lysine. So, Lysine and arginine compete for the same storage space. But the interesting thing is that the cell cannot create new virus using lysine.

If there is enough lysine in your cells, it will cause herpes virus to subside and return to hibernation. The point is that your diet during cold sore treatment should include enough amount of lysine to stop cold sores from progressing. Also you need to avoid particular types of food when you have cold sores. These foods contain more arginine than lysine:

* Dark chocolate and milk chocolate of any type

* Most seeds and nuts

* Wheat, oats and some other grains

* Shellfish

* Fruits like oranges, grapes and tangerines

* Usually vegetables have equal amounts of arginine and lysine and are safe to eat, but some of them are high in these two amino acids: peas, onions, squash and broccoli.

Of course, it is not that you have to avoid them all since almost all of them are very important to your health. But live a week or so without them will not harm you.

But when your health is optimal and there is no herpes outbreak, you have to accept these foods to make your diet well balanced. Do not use avoidance of these foods as a method to prevent cold sores. If you do so, you could make your immune system weaker which actually could bring more cold sores.

Actually, it is better not to simply avoid food high in arginine, but to increase your consumption of lysine during the cold sore treatment. It will not only cure cold sores, but prevent new ones from appearing.

So, here are some good foods high in lysine you can eat any time and they are very great to balance out those foods you avoid. So you probably don't have to give up chocolate completely.
OK, here are those high lysine foods: chicken, eggs, beef, apples, and fish (flounder is very rich in lysine), papaya, beets, and all dairy products. Yoghurt and cheese are high in lysine, and they will make a good lysine to arginine ratio of 2 to 1.

A serving of flounder of six-ounce will give you about 6000 to 7000 mg. of body-ready lysine. Lysine is also available in 500-milligram capsules which are very convenient. When you have a cold sore or fever blister outbreak, the popular dosage is three to eight capsules daily, and for maintenance just to prevent cold sore outbreaks, one or two capsules daily is enough.

In most any normal quantity, lysine is a common protein and is perfectly safe. So if you really want to keep eating your chocolate (just take care of your teeth), keep in mind to increase your lysine level by proper food intake to balance out these high arginine foods.

I also love chocolate and it's very difficult for me to follow any strict diet. But it is only a little balancing what is required, and your cold sore treatment will be successful.