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If you wonder about foods that cause and prevent oral herpes cold sores, you are on the right track. Your diet can make a powerful impact as a cold sore treatment. Read this short article and get the facts now.

This article does not give specific recipes or diets. It does tell you which foods are best at preventing cold sores and oral herpes. And you will learn which foods can CAUSE cold sore events.

By the time you are done reading this article you will know exactly how to balance these two groups of foods for maximum success with your oral herpes and cold sore prevention.

WHAT IS YOUR MAIN CAUSE OF COLD SORES?

Cold sores are the side effect of the herpes simplex virus replication effort.

This is how it works.

The herpes simplex virus enters a cell. It forces the cell to create clones of the virus. When full, the original virus will destroy the cell to release the newly created copies. Thousands of destroyed cells make up the cold sore ulcer.

ARGININE AND LYSINE REALLY AFFECTS COLD SORES.

You may have heard of the two amino acids - lysine and arginine. These two protein fractions have a big effect on cold sores.

Arginine is the main protein used to create the herpes simplex virus. It is essential or replication is not possible. Your cells store this and other proteins in special areas within the cell.

Lysine is a protein your cells will store in the same area as arginine. The more lysine available to the cells, the more it will store and the less arginine will be available. Your cells cannot use lysine to create new herpes virus.

The herpes simplex virus can quickly sense a shortage of arginine. Often the herpes virus will give up and go back into a dormant state.

Most foods that contain lysine also contain arginine. The higher the lysine content, the more they prevent cold sores. The higher the arginine content, the more those foods can CAUSE cold sores.

You can help prevent cold sores and oral herpes with a diet that provides a two to one ratio of lysine to arginine. Many food choices will provide this high lysine ratio.

Balance your food intake for ultimate success and prevention. Keep eating the food choices you love. Then add some additional lysine foods to make up for them. It is easy.

HIGH LYSINE FOODS THAT WILL HELP PREVENT COLD SORES.

High lysine foods that help prevent cold sores include most meat - especially fish, beef, turkey and chicken. Eggs, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products are high in lysine and low in arginine.

Ricotta cheese is very rich in lysine. Soy products and brewers yeast are also good sources. Flounder is a fish that is extremely high in lysine. You will get 14,000 milligrams per 450 grams (pound) of this tasty seafood.

Look for Wisconsin cheddar cheese - mouth-watering cheese that provides better than a 2.2 to 1 ratio. This is one of the healthiest cheese choices you will find.

HIGH ARGININE FOODS THAT CAN CAUSE COLD SORES.

If you suffer from a lot of cold sore events, here are some high arginine foods that you may want to watch closely.

These foods will give you more arginine than lysine. Nuts of all sorts. This includes tree nuts as well as bush nuts. Grains, such as oats, wheat and rye, provide high levels of arginine.

Seeds also contribute to cold sore outbreaks with high arginine levels - including sunflower and flax. Vegetables, such as cabbage, radishes, potatoes and beans also encourage cold sores. Chocolate is extremely rich in arginine.

The trouble with avoiding the high arginine foods is that you will be missing out on some of the most vitamin-packed food choices. That is not preferred or healthy. Even chocolate is very good for your health.

Rather than do without those high nutrition vegetables and beans, simply add some higher lysine choices to your meals. This may be the only change you need to quell your cold sores.

LYSINE CAPSULES TO THE RESCUE.

Also, 500-milligram lysine capsules are commonly available. Although not as well absorbed as food lysine, it often eliminates the need to change your diet at all.

As a cold sore treatment, most folks take six to eight capsules, spread throughout the day. For cold sore prevention between attacks, take one or two capsules per day.

Flooding your system with lysine is one of many great cold sore treatment options available. It slows down the herpes simplex virus from creating cold sore outbreaks. It may even stop oral herpes permanently for you.