What Foods To Eat To Prevent Herpes Outbreaks

Adopting An Alkaline Diet

• Watermelon: this is the easiest method because they are easy to eat with great taste and can improve the effectiveness of your alkaline diet. Fruits and vegetables in general are perfect for an alkaline diet.

• Adding lemon to your water: a quick method to enhance your alkaline balance. Stay away from soda, or caffeinated drinks because they increase your arginine amount which will lead to outbreaks.

Upgrade Your Eating Habits

Are you eating a standard American diet, or SAD? That means eating lots of meat, fast foods, and and few fresh fruits and vegetables. Such habits not only work against living comfortably with herpes, they also raise your risk for many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Consider upgrading your eating habits through a few, not-so-hard-to-make changes.

Eat more veggies. Try to prepare home-cooked food more often. Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed, says LeeAnn Weintraub, RD, MPH, a registered dietitian based in Los Angeles. She considers these three tips to be the first steps anyone who wants to eat more healthfully should follow.

Arginine And Herpes Outbreaks

Arginine is another amino acid that makes up proteins and is involved in several very important functions of the human organism.

This amino acid is essential in pediatric ages because the organism of infants is not able to synthesize it.

The adult organism can synthesize arginine in the urea cycle which was discovered by the German physiologist Hans Adolf Krebs in 1932.

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Surprising Trigger Foods You Missed

In a word: GRAINS. Yes, grains

Grains are, after all, seeds. All seeds have a relatively high amount of amino acids and are going to flunk the Arginine:Lysine Ratio test. Look at the Arginine to Lysine ratio chart in the next paragraph and notice how prominent bread, cereal, rice, corn, oats, cake and cookies are. Even without nuts or chocolate. If they include nuts, chocolate or coconut flakes, youve overdone it. Almond flour? Nope. Thats nuts again.

What Foods To Avoid If You Have Herpes

Knowing what foods to avoid with herpes allows you to include the food sources in your diet that are rich in L-lysine and avoid the arginine rich foods. Here is a list of foods that you should avoid when infected with the herpes simplex viral infection.

Knowing what foods to avoid with herpes allows you to include the food sources in your diet that are rich in L-lysine and avoid the arginine rich foods. Here is a list of foods that you should avoid when infected with the herpes simplex viral infection.

A viral infection caused by the Herpes Simplex virus, herpes results in painful red blisters in the oral or the genital region. The blisters are usually accompanied by burning, itching, and tingling in these regions. Outbreaks of herpes are usually concentrated in the mucous membrane of lips and genital region but can occur anywhere in the body as well. Although antiviral medication have known to reduce the symptoms and the frequency of the outbreaks, the best way to avoid the painful herpes blisters is to stick to a diet and to know what foods to avoid when you have herpes.

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Make The Arginine Connection

Foods high in arginine and low in lysine, two of the eight naturally occurring amino acids, may be your worst enemies if you have herpes. The virus needs arginine to grow, reports Michele Picozzi, author of Controlling Herpes Naturally, on the Herpes.org website. The worst arginine-rich foods if you have herpes include peanuts, chocolate and carob, wheat and wheat germ, oats, soy foods, some types of nuts, peanuts, and sesame seeds, according to Dr. Deborah Gordon, an integrative medicine practitioner.

Commontriggers For A Herpes Outbreak

There are afew common triggers of a Herpes Simplex Virus outbreak that people shouldavoid. Some of these include:

Stress: Stress is one of themost common triggers of a Herpes Simplex Virus outbreak. When someone isstressed, it can cause this virus to return.

WeakenedImmune State: Theimmune virus is responsible for fighting off invaders. These invaders includebacteria and viruses. Sometimes, these invaders can actually weaken the immunesystem by reducing the white blood cell count. This can cause the virus toreactivate.

HormoneDisruptions: Hormonalchanges also have the potential to cause a Herpes Simplex Virus outbreak.These hormonal changes can vary from person to person, just as the triggers themselves.

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Foods That Trigger Herpes Recurrence

While some foods can aid your recovery during a herpes flare-up, others can increase the chances of a recurrence of this infection. Following are some food items you should avoid:

Sugar: Sugar is bad for the immune system. Sugar hinders a main component of our complex immune response, slowing down the white blood cells that attack pathogens in the body. Besides the obvious culprits like sugary sodas, sweets, cake and pastries, sugar can hide in many processed foods as well. If you want to boost your immune system to help you fight herpes, lower your sugar intake by reading food labels closely and replacing sugar with natural sweeteners such as fruits, dates, figs, etc.

Unhealthy fats: Saturated fats, which are typically fats that are solid at room temperature, are not good for your body. You can limit their consumption by avoiding foods such as fatty meat, butter and cheese. Coconut and palm oils also have a high saturated fat content. Packaged and preserved foods are also known for high trans fat content and bad quality of oil. Choosing low-fat foods or those with unsaturated fat such as olive oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, walnut, etc to boost your immune response and help keep herpes flare-ups at bay.

Key Foods That Cause Herpes Outbreaks

Some of the top questions that I see happening in our private community are around preventing outbreaks. You guys are asking is there something that is in my diet that is triggering this or is the someway I can control my outbreaks with nutrition. Basically, what can I do to prevent these dang things from interrupting my life? Ok so the YAASSSS you can. This is good news, right? Trust me, Im like you and I want to do everything I can to prevent an outbreak and keep that sucker dormant. Before we dive in and cover the top foods that cause outbreaks I want to make sure we cover the main reason why these foods are Xed off our list. It boils down to one simple protein called arginine. Arginine is an essential amino acid that is crucial to our overall health. It supports things like blood flow, circulation and helps the blood vessels relax. We clearly need arginine in our system. The problem occurs when we have an abundance of arginine in our body it can be like lighter fluid to a flame or miracle grow to a weed. We want to be aware of what foods are high in arginine and foods that trigger a herpes outbreak. We can combat the arginine with another essential acid called lysine. This The other biggie, why some of these foods are on our dont go there list, is because they lower our immune system. A low immune system equals a chance for the herpes virus to come out and play.

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What Exactly Is Herpes

Although many think of herpes as a skin disease, its in fact an inflammation. In between outbreaks, the herpes DNA lives in nerve centers of the brain. During outbreaks, the DNA replicates, forming a virus. The virus passes the nerve down to the skin, where lesions are caused by it.

HSV 1 and HSV2 are transmitted by contact sexual contact or typically kissing. They often happen genitally or orally because our skin provides adequate protection except where its quite thin and sensitive like around the lips or genitals.

Our defense mechanisms can fight the virus, but the catch is the virus pulls away from our immune defenses and hides, lying dormant in the ganglia, nerves at along the spinal cord. Occasionally, the virus causes another outbreak, and retraces its approach to the lips or genitals

How Do You Manage Herpes Long

Management with treatment:

• You may need to consider suppression treatment if you experience many outbreaks in a year
• You can buy antiviral creams for cold sores from a pharmacy, but should see your doctor if the sore lasts more than 5-7 days
• For genital herpes treatment, your doctor may refer you to a sexual health clinic
• Treatment of an acute short-term infection is simple and involves taking a course of antiviral tablets. There are different types of antiviral tablets which can be used. Some courses are higher strength and only need to be taken for 1 to 2 days, and some are taken for 5 days. You may need longer treatment if new symptoms develop during treatment or of your treatment doesnt completely heal your symptoms. You should speak to your doctor if this happens

Managing oral herpes :

• avoid direct physical contact with people
• avoid sharing items that can pass the virus on such as cups, cutlery, make up or lip balm. You can still use communal facilities such as showers, toilets or swimming pools.
• dont participate in oral sex or kissing
• wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after applying antiviral cream or after touching the sore avoid touching the sore unless you need to apply treatment

Managing genital herpes don’t have sex during an outbreak of genital herpes or during the initial signs of an outbreak . The following preventative steps will reduce the risk of passing it to partners:

Telling a partner about herpes:

Emotional impact:

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Talk To Your Doctor About Antiviral Medications

There are two brands of antiviral medications available to treat herpes. Either can be used to take daily as a suppressive therapy or episodically when there is an outbreak. Discuss with your doctor how often you are experiencing outbreaks and your symptoms. Together you can decide which, if any, medication is best for you.

Are Herpes Symptoms Permanent

No, herpes isn’t always ‘active’ a herpes infection always lies between a dormant phase, where it hibernates silently in your nerve cells and an activating phase. When the virus is active it is called an outbreak, which causes noticeable symptoms. An outbreak will depend on how the virus is activated in your body.

How often will I get symptoms? This varies from person to person. Some people get several outbreaks in a year and some have no outbreaks until many years after they are first infected. It is important to see your doctor if you have any herpes symptoms.

When would you be infectious to others? oral or genital herpes is most contagious during an outbreak. In between an outbreak, the virus is mostly dormant. During this phase viral shedding can happen. This stage is when the virus becomes active on your skin and is contagious. It may or may not cause you any symptoms. If viral shedding causes no symptoms, you can pass it to unknowing partners. You are not always infectious if you have herpes, but the virus is occasionally shed from your skin when there are no symptoms present. There is a risk of passing the infection on at any time you have it, but most of the time when you do not have an outbreak, you are not infectious.

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Expect The First Outbreak To Be The Worst

Remember that although herpes lasts a lifetime, the first outbreak typically causes the most pain, while later outbreaks tend to be much milder.

You will always have herpes, and the sores will come and go, but you can decide not to treat the current outbreak. If its not that unpleasant or uncomfortable, some patients will do that, says Gade.

Herbal Remedies May Also Offer Relief

Research supports the use of certain botanical remedies. You may want to try one or more of these:

Long dan xie gan tan This Chinese herbal formula has been used to quell symptoms and reduce herpes outbreaks. Its English name is clear liver fire pills. In at least one study, the formulawas shown to inhibit the activity of -1 and HSV-2.

Chinese herbal medicine is always individualized, and there are other formulas that help too, so it is helpful to consult a licensed acupuncturist or herbalist before starting this formula, says Mindich.

Mushrooms Mushrooms boost the immune system, Mindich says, and thus can help prevent recurrent herpes outbreaks. She recommends mushroom products from the Immune & Protection collection of Host Defense and from Myko San. Eating shiitake mushrooms daily has also been found to have a positive effect on the immune system in a study published in April 2015 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Lemon balm This herb, which is related to mint, has traditionally been used to improve brain function and also has antiviral properties. Records concerning the medicinal use of lemon balm date back more than 2,000 years.

Lemon balm can be prepared and drunk as a tea. It can also be applied to the skin to both prevent herpes to prevent outbreaks and reduce symptoms. Research has shown that lemon balm oil directly counteracts herpes viruses.

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Lysine And Herpes Outbreaks

Lysine is an amino acid that human beings need and must obtain through the consumption of supplements or foods rich in proteins that contain it. Our organism is not able to synthesize lysine and that is why this amino acid is essential.

For this reason, the consumption of foods rich in lysine is a recommendation you should take into account in your diet.

The Foods To Avoid For Herpes Simplex Cure:

Try and avoid stimulants like caffeine, alcohol, refined sugars, excessive sunlight exposure, as well as smoking, because these possess the opportunity to reduce energy stores that can then undermine your resistance as well as your capacity to keep away diseases. Anxiety is an important cause of the herpes outbreaks, thus do whatever you can to minimize anxiety get a lot of sleep, and get lots of exercise and clean air.

Final Words:

Now you know the foods to eat and avoid to prevent herpes virus. Express your views through the comment and help others. If you find this information helpful, then share it with your friends.

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The Acidity And Alkalinity Balance

Some people may want to enhance their lysine intake by consuming lysine supplements. This has to be carefully monitored. Taking lysine supplements with acid rich foods can lead to hyperacidity.

For instance, some lysine-rich foods such as dairy and meat have higher levels of acidity. When you have too much acidity in your system it can cause an outbreak. So when it comes to food, a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of alkaline to acid foods will help you manage this acidity/alkalinity balance. In other words, eat two to three servings of alkaline foods for every serving of acidic food you eat.

Below are 8 types of foods that can help you manage or prevent a herpes outbreak. Bear in mind that there are plenty more than just eight. But the foods featured have the highest lysine/arginine ratios in their respective categories or contain special herpes-fighting properties separate from lysine. For your benefit, there will also be a list of other foods to consider in each food category.

One last thing to note is instead of stating the lysine and arginine amounts by milligrams , we will list them by ratios which are easier to grasp.

For instance, an apple has 17mg/8 mg of lysine/arginine while beef liver has 1570 mg/1420 mg of lysine/arginine. Which has more lysine to arginine? The answer is the apple as it has 2.125 to 1 . Liver has a ratio of 1.106 to 1. Stated in this form, its much easier to understand.

Is It Possible To Cure Herpes

Unfortunately, herpes has no cure as the virus invades your immune system once you are infected with the virus, you have it for life. This is the same for whether you have oral or genital herpes.

An infection doesn’t mean symptoms are guaranteed most oral or genital infections dont cause any symptoms. Its very common for people to have come into contact with the virus at some point in their lives and carry the virus without ever having any symptoms. The virus lays dormant in your body after your initial infection and can reactivate several times a year or even months or years later. The time in which the virus reactivates varies from person to person. People do not spontaneously cure themselves of herpes.

Not everyone who has been infected with herpes goes on to show symptoms, or have outbreaks. The severity of outbreaks also varies from person to person and is hard to predict.

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Get Plenty Of Sleep For Better Physical And Mental Health

Americans are notoriously sleep deprived, but if you have genital herpes, buck this unhealthy trend. Getting plenty of quality sleep affects every aspect of your life your physical and mental health, performance at school or work, and appearance.

To improve your sleep , follow some quick tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.