How to Eat to Treat Cold Sores

Unfortunately, there is no cure for the herpes virus that leads to cold sores. Once the virus is present, there are many triggers that cause outbreaks. There are numerous cold sore triggers, however, learning how to alter your diet can help to treat a number of them.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Include lysine rich foods in your daily diet, as this amino acid helps to block the herpes virus to prevent cold sore outbreaks. Boost your intake by eating more turkey, avocados, ricotta cheese, eggs and even high quality dark chocolate. If you have severe cold sore outbreaks often, speak to a doctor about a lysine supplement.

2. Limit foods that are high in arginine, another amino acid that attaches to the herpes virus and allows it to gain strength. Arginine-rich foods include milk, nuts, needs and pork. Additionally, boosting your lysine intake will helps, as lysine will attach to molecules of arginine before the virus has a chance to.

3. Eat one serving of natural yogurt with live, active cultures each day to help fight bacteria that can cause cold sores. Treat an existing cold sore by eating two or three servings each day as well as applying yogurt directly to the cold sore itself

Tips & Warnings

• Consider getting a full allergy work-up from a doctor, as allergens are extremely common cold sore trigger. While some allergies are easy to spot, such as peanut, shellfish or milk allergies, others carry very few symptoms and can only be detected with a medical test.
• Be aware of common food triggers, particularly tomatoes, pineapple, citrus fruits and gluten. While most people who get cold sores can eat these foods in moderation without symptoms, cutting back on them can really help to treat and prevent your outbreaks.