[Harp-L] Concerning cold sores, a.k.a., herpes simplex 1

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I read somewhere a while back that canker sores, which I've had off and on at infrequent intervals since childhood, are, as has been said before, from the virus herpes simplex I, and once one has been exposed, one will always be susceptible to a return bout when under stress, or due to having ingested foods containing the amino acid argenine. The foods containing argenine are primarily nuts, peanut butter, gelatine, chocolate, and some others. Those are the ones that get me going. After having had a chocolate binge, I usually have a break-out in a few days time. 

In order to conteract the imbalance of argenine in your system, it is nutritionally helpful to take supplements of lysine, another amino acid which counterbalances the effects of overmuch argenine in the system. As soon as I notice a sore in my mouth, I take two tabs of over the counter lysine every few hours until the sore begins to subside. I have noticed that this lessens the duration to just a day or two. A couple of foods that contain lysine are red meat and milk. A more thorough search on the subject can be had by "googling" with "herpes and lysine" or some such subject.

If one has a tendency toward getting the sores, it may be helpful also to take lysine supplements on a daily basis, just one a day, in order to avoid a break-out.

I'm no doctor. I'm just speaking from my own experience.

Bob