THE POWER OF PROTEINS
The herpes simplex virus is a master of ambush. It spends most of its virus life dormant, hidden deep within the nerves in your body and waiting for your immune system to drop its guard. When the coast is clear, herpes rushes to the surface of the skin, causing ugly, painful sores that can last a week or more. Then it retreats back into the nerves, waiting weeks, months, or even years before rearing its ugly head once again.
Contrary to the popular belief that herpes appears only on the mouth and genitals, the virus can cause sores anywhere on the body, so the last thing you want is to be infected with it. But if you already have herpes, there is some evidence suggesting that eating more of some types of foods and less of others can make the virus weaker and less likely to launch its attacks.
You wouldn’t think that an egg or a bowl of baked beans would have much stopping power against the herpes virus. But these foods, along with meat, milk, and cheese, contain large amounts of lysine, an amino acid that can help prevent the virus from thriving.
“The herpes virus uses certain amino acids to build the protein sheath that surrounds it,” explains Mark McCune, MD, a dermatologist at Kansas City Laser and Skin Surgery Center in Overland Park, Kansas. “Lysine inhibits the growth of the shield, so the virus can’t flourish.”
Dr. McCune recommends getting between 1,000 and 2,000 milligrams of lysine a day. In one study, researchers found that people who got 500 to 1,000 milligrams of lysine a day above their normal intake rarely had outbreaks. And when they did have outbreaks, the sores were smaller than before and in some cases lasted only half as long.
It’s easy to get large amounts of lysine in your diet. An ounce and a half of provolone cheese, for example, has 1,110 milligrams. Two eggs provide 900 milligrams, and 1 cup of baked beans has 960 milligrams. Pork is a lysine powerhouse, with one broiled, center-cut loin chop providing almost 2,000 milligrams.
Vitamin C is well known for its immunity-boosting, virus-fighting abilities. “People who are more prone to herpes attacks are often low in vitamin C,” says Kaayla Daniel, PhD, a board-certified clinical nutritionist in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. So increasing your intake by eating more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C may prevent herpes from rearing its ugly head. One guava, for example, has 165 milligrams of vitamin C, nearly three times the Daily Value (DV) of 60 milligrams. Orange juice is also good, with a 6-ounce glass providing 93 milligrams, or more than 150 percent of the DV. A half-cup of sliced peaches contains 118 milligrams, or nearly 200 percent of the DV, and a half-cup of raw bell peppers contains a whopping 142 milligrams per half-cup, more than 230 percent of the DV. Broccoli is also a good source; it serves up 41 milligrams of vitamin C in a half-cup, or 68 percent of the DV.
Just as foods high in lysine can inhibit the herpes virus from building its protective coat, foods high in arginine may strengthen its defenses. “Arginine is an amino acid that herpes relies on for building its protein coating,” says Dr. McCune. “If your diet is very high in arginine, this might help the virus grow aggressively.”
High-arginine foods include chocolate, peas, nuts, and beer. You don’t have to give up these foods entirely if you have herpes, Dr. McCune explains. What you should do, however, is balance them by eating other foods that are high in lysine.
“The whole lysine-arginine system doesn’t work for everybody,” Dr. McCune adds. “But I’ve seen lots of folks have success with it. And it doesn’t have the side effects of drugs.”
In addition to watching your ratio of arginine to lysine foods, eating foods with immune-stimulating properties can help protect you against a herpes outbreak. Both garlic and thyme have such properties, so eating these herbs can help prevent an outbreak or decrease the duration of an outbreak once one occurs, says John Neustadt, ND, medical director of Montana Integrative Medicine in Bozeman.
Once a herpes sore shows up, it can seem like an eternity before it goes away. But there is one way to hurry it along, and it’s probably in your refrigerator at this very moment. Doctors aren’t sure why it works, but applying a milk compress to a cold sore may help it heal more quickly.
Just dip a washcloth or handkerchief in milk, apply it to the sore for 5 seconds, then remove it for another 5. Continue the process for 5 minutes, and repeat it every 3 to 4 hours, rinsing your skin between treatments.