Herpes and diet

It's important to know a healthy diet is certainly part of managing herpes. Some foods can cause outbreaks. Some foods are helpful to prevent herpes outbreaks. You may ensure that you are maintaining a healthy diet.

Maintaining overall health contributes to a healthy immune system which will enable your body to respond to recurrences. Overall health includes a healthy diet, exercise, enough sleep and the minimal use of alcohol, cigarettes and recreational drugs.

Below are three crucial factors as related to diet when it comes to herpes outbreak prevention. Not only do these dietary recommendations help to prevent outbreaks—they include overall immune-strengthening health benefits.

Foods that Lower Your Immune System

People with herpes should limit their sugar intake to help reduce the likelihood of an outbreak. Your immune system helps you fight off the virus and keep outbreaks at bay, while sugar suppresses your white blood cells from doing their job as virus killers. Sugar may also lower your immune system by inhibiting your body's utilization of vitamin C and absorption of B vitamins, which all play a role in immune function.

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Foods that Cause a Stress Response

There are particular foods that can cause a “stress response” in the body—, caffeine, and alcohol are some of the most impactful stressors. Not only will these tWO culprits wear your immune system Anything that taxes or negatively impacts your adrenals (such as all three of these) will reduce your immunity and ability to fight the virus. Additionally, all of these substances will likely negatively impact your sleep, another vital function of the body that serves the immune system and prevents outbreaks. So avoid alcohol, and caffeine as a method of herpes outbreak prevention, and definitely do not consume these during an active outbreak.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) has incredible benefits to herpes outbreak prevention, as well as boosting the immune system. Taking at least 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C as a supplement can go a long way to serve the immune system and prevent herpes outbreaks. Foods highest in vitamin C are oranges, red peppers, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, strawberries, grapefruit, guava, kiwis, and green peppers.

The Lysine/Arginine Balance

The balance of lysine and arginine in your body are one of the most essential components to this. Lysine is an essential amino acid (building block of protein), and arginine is classified as a semi-essential or conditionally essential amino acid. Both amino acids need to be obtained through diet, as your body cannot synthesize them independently.

While both amino acids provide many essential benefits to bodily health, consuming high levels of lysine serves to combat the herpes virus, whereas high levels of arginine will significantly increase the likelihood and frequency of a herpes outbreak.

What does this mean for your diet? Peanuts, peanut butter, and chocolate are the worst—that is, the highest in arginine—avoid these as much as possible, or cut them out of your diet altogether.

It can be helpful to take a lysine supplement on a regular basis, and/or eat a regular diet of foods high in lysine to balance this out. Fish, chicken, beef, lamb, milk, cheese, beans, brewer's yeast, mung bean sprouts, and most fruits and vegetables (especially leafy greens) have more lysine than arginine.

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