Cold sores or fever blisters are fluid filled blisters that may occur anywhere in the body—especially on the face, around the lips, and on the genitals.
These blisters are usually small and are caused due to the herpes simplex virus. The skin around the blisters is usually painful, swollen, and red.
Though the blisters usually remain closed, excessive scratching may cause them to break open and release a clear fluid which is infectious. Eventually, the sores become scabbed. In a few days, they may become completely scabbed. It takes several days for the sores to heal completely.
When you are planning to set a cold sores diet for yourself, start off with including some important amino acids such as lysine.
Also make sure that arginine, another amino acid, is in very low quantities in the diet. Arginine is an amino acid which is required by the herpes virus to replicate itself. Therefore, this amino acid should be avoided completely.
Lysine not only inhibits the multiplication of the herpes virus, it also helps in inhibiting the metabolism of arginine.
Most fruits and vegetables contain lysine. Other foods which are an important part of a cold sores diet and prevention include raw papaya, eggs, avocados, tomatoes, beet, milk and dairy products, and fruits such as apricots, mango, pears, figs, and apples. You will also have to avoid certain foods in your diet.
These include gelatin, nuts, oats, seeds, chocolate, refined flours, brown rice, whole wheat, coconut, caffeine, and protein shakes which include arginine.
Most cold sores dietary supplements will not contain arginine, but if they do, avoid such supplements. The recurrence of cold sores can be limited with the help of a diet to reduce cold sores.
An anti-cold sore diet can help you deal with the outbreaks. Bioflavonoids, vitamin C, zinc, and the vitamin B group are all micronutrients that can help you improve your immunity, thus extending the period of remission between two subsequent breakouts.
Cold Sores Foods As discussed earlier, it is important to consume foods which have a high lysine and low arginine content. Some of the foods which are ideal in such a condition include almost all fresh fruits and vegetables.
Figs and apricots are especially beneficial to those suffering from cold sores. You should also include a lot of dairy products in your diet such as yogurt, milk, and cheese.
Brewer’s yeast, fish, white meat, and eggs are also food items which can be consumed to improve immunity and repress the symptoms of the herpes virus. Fishes like sardines and cod are especially beneficial in your condition.
Consume foods which are high in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits such as oranges, leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and bokchoy, broccoli, cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts, papaya, bell peppers, parsley, and strawberries. Also consume foods which contain high amounts of bioflavonoids.
Such cold sores foods to eat include rosehip, wines and juices made from grapes, apricots, prunes, black tea, and red clover.
Cold sores foods to avoid include artificial sweeteners, white bread, refined flours, refined sugars, caffeine, oats, nuts, and chocolates.
When you have cold sores foods high in arginine should be avoided. So try and avoid consuming foods such as chocolates, peanut butter, porridge, oats, protein shakes, and muscle building supplements.
Cold sores foods trigger off episodes of fever, blisters, and other symptoms related to the herpes virus.
Is vitamin c good for cold sores?
Vitamin C does nothing for cold sores in itself. However, vitamin C is required for improving immunity and a healthy dose of this vitamin can help you increase immunity to a point where there is a large gap between two consecutive breakouts. While citrus fruits are really rich in vitamin C, it is better to have all sorts of fruits in moderation.
Most fruits, whether they contain vitamin C or not, raisethe alkaline levels in the body. Fruits that are rich in vitamin C are also rich in antioxidants as well as lysine, which is an amino acid that helps keep the breakouts of fever blisters at bay.
Vitamin C, along with bioflavonoids and zinc, also helps in boosting immunity and therefore prevents an attack of the virus. It also creates a strong resistance within the body which allows it to fight off all other infections that may ravage your body when you are struggling with the herpes virus.
Vitamin C also helps you deal with the swelling, redness, itching, facial pain, pain in the nerves, tingling, and scabbing, that is often associated with the herpes virus. Vitamin C also helps increase the rate at which the skin heals after the blisters have been scabbed.
Vitamin C may be needed in doses higher than what you normally use because the skin may need a lot of healing as the blisters appear and scab.
