The
Dietary Management of Genital Herpes
The dietary management of genital herpes is not just another illusion.
There are certain ingredients you can add or remove from your diet
to make you less prone to genital herpes infections. For example,
considering that a high consumption of arginine can make you potentially
prone to herpes outbreaks, you may decide to avoid eating high arginine
food and prefer to ingest high-lysine food instead. If you've already
read my page on lysine or my book about genital herpes, Herpes Wise,
you may already know how I feel about lysine. Lysine is just a very
small part of the dietary management of genital herpes and results
are uncertain as clinical studies about lysine and herpes contradict
each other. Many partial research findings point out directions
in the dietary management of genital herpes. It seems that nature
is very generous with us and that our nutrition can greatly affect
how our bodies react to herpes.
The dietary management of genital herpes:
Lysine
Kefir
Green Tea
Cranberries
Enzyme therapy: Raw vegetable sprouts and
juices
Broccoli
Dietary
Management of Genital herpes:
Broccoli?
Preliminary
lab studies of monkey and human cells found that indole-3-carbinol
(I3C), a compound found naturally in broccoli and other cruciferous
vegetables such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts may interfere with
herpes reproduction. This compound affected either herpes virus
1 or 2 replication by almost a 100% in lab tests.
So you could try to eat more broccoli for a while and see if you
experience any improvement even though we don't have any information
on dosage and efficacy. You could also try indole-3 carbinol supplements.
Indole 3 carbinol heps prevent certain cancers and promotes hormonal
balance. It may be particularly beneficial for women with herpes.
You can find a good affordable supplement at vitacost. Best indole-3
carbinol supplements always contain sulforaphane. For more information
on Broccoli
supplements click here. Pregnant or lactating women and diabetics
should consult their doctors before including broccoli supplements
in their dietary management for genital herpes protocol.
I don't
know if we will soon find more vegetables able to stop herpes reproduction
but in the meanwhile it would be a good idea to include many of
them for your dietary management of genital herpes.
Back
to top
Dietary Management of Genital herpes:
The White and Green Tea trail
Tea is a wonderful beverage. It is one of my favorite asset in
the dietary management of genital herpes. It has antiviral and anti-oxidant
properties. Most studies concern oral herpes and tea. But I've noticed
that if I take 4 to five cups of green or white tea, my colds and
herpes go and stay away. Coffee on the contrary might promote herpes
infections.
Always prefer a good quality tea. If you're sensitive to caffeine
or theine, stop drinking tea after 5 pm. If you're a tea lover like
me, you're may be able to find those rare white tea buds that hardly
contain any theine. It's just heaven to the nose and pallet and
paradise to your health. Enjoy! One minus though. That kind of tea
might "hurt your wallet" a little. You find affordable
white tea is Long Life organic
white tea in tea bags an even better one is organic
DragonFly white tea. Research has recently proven that white
tea was more potent against disease than any other types of tea.
This is also the case for the dietary management of genital herpes.
For more information on tea go to the herbal
treatments of herpes page . If you don't like the taste of tea
or just don't have the time to prepare white tea 5 times a day,
you may prefer to take a tea extract. the absolute best tea extract
for herpes prevention is a mixture of white and Sencha tea made
by New Chapter. For more information on New Chapter Green
and White Tea extract click here. I have covered a lot of information
about tea for the dietary management of genital herpes with my newsletter
if you're interested in tea as part of the dietary management for
genital herpes, you should subscribe to my herpes
newsletter.
Back
to top
Dietary Management of Genital herpes:
The Enzyme Therapy trail
You may have heard of enzyme therapy. I didn't know much about
it until I got really concerned about controlling genital herpes.
Then I did extensive research of all methods that were somewhat
related to genital herpes treatment. Enzyme therapy is not per se
directly part of the dietary management of genital herpes. But it's
such a detoxifier and immune booster and I love it so much that
I thought I should mention it here. Enzyme therapy has recently
been tested against Zovirax for the treatment of herpes zoster.
Here are the conclusions: "Overall, the enzyme combination
preparation showed identical efficacy with acyclovir. The results
of the prior study were thus confirmed. Further investigations on
the immunomodulatory potency, dosage and effects on postherpetic
herpes neuralgia are, however, still required".
Enzyme therapy encompasses several fields, intravenous enzyme therapy,
massive ingestion of enzyme supplements and two I will discuss here
which are eating raw sprouts and foods and drinking raw vegetable
juice.
Basically enzyme therapy relies on the fact that as we eat most
of our food cooked we deplete our body of vital enzyme. How is that?
Cooking food kills enzymes. Enzymes are necessary so that our body
functions normally. Our body can produce 22 digestive enzymes. But
it also needs a constant intake of enzymes. There are more than
3000 enzymes on this planet. Our body can produce some but depends
on nutrition for the rest of them. I'm not going to discuss here
in depth the power of enzyme therapy. But I can just say that if
you include the methods below in your dietary management of genital
herpes, you are very likely to increase your energy levels, feel
and look younger and boost your immune system.
Sprout it out:
Sprouts can be made at home with a sprouter or a glass jar. The
easiest to make are alfalfa sprouts. You can find sprouters starting
at $16. So it is really a bargain for your health. During sprouting
enzymes are activated and highly present in the sprouts and the
vitamin content are multiplied. Actually there are far more enzymes
and vitamins in the sprout than in the vegetable itself. That's
why they're so beneficial to your health and should be included
in your dietary management of genital herpes protocol.
Juice it out:
I don't know if any of you heard of all the benefits of vegetable
juice. Norman Walker wrote about it in the 70's and it has now become
very popular. Vegetable juice like sprouts can bring a lot of powerful
nutrients to the body, like vitamins, enzymes and more far more
than just eating the vegetable itself. Norman Walker actually suggests
different vegetable juice mixes as a treatment for several ailments,
tuberculosis, psoriasis, stomach ulcer and much more. He also claims
to have cured his own cancer with vegetable juice and a diet consisting
mostly of raw food.
I love carrot juice and the way it makes me feel and I'm going
to invest in a juice extractor. You may want to start with a simple
juicer like me or just go to a juice bar. Have a few carrot and
parsley juice to see if you like the taste. I've tried many juice
mixes and I love the way they make me feel. But not always how they
taste.
Enzymes are killed by cooking so raw vegetable juice is just another
great source of enzymes. Vegetable juices are simple to make and
should be part of your dietary management of genital herpes.
Enzyme Supplements:
One of the easiest way to integrate enzyme therapy to the dietary
management of genital herpes is by taking enzyme supplements. They
can't provide the same health benefits of the 2 previous methods
but are very convenient. There are several good enzyme supplements
that can help restore healthy levels of body enzymes and increase
digestive comfort. My favorite is Nature's
Way food enzymes broad spectrum enzyme formula. It contains
alfalfa for better digestion and detoxification and Siberian ginseng
for improved immune system and all the necessary enzymes. You can
find it here.
Another good enzyme supplement is NSI
vegetarian digestive enzymes. It contains all necessary enzymes
in good quantities.
Back
to top
Dietary
Management of Genital herpes: The Lysine trail
According
to studies we can say today that lysine is potentially better at
preventing than treating genital herpes. Actually a study suggests
that taking high dosage of lysine at the onset of a genital herpes
outbreak may provide little or no benefits. I can already hear many
big lysine fans screaming from here. I'm well aware that you may
feel strongly that lysine is great even for genital herpes treatment.
It's written all over the internet anyway. OK. Let's just say that
it has not been scientifically proven for now.
So,
according to science it is better to take lysine supplements on
a regular basis for prevention. But also according to scientific
research that may entail that your arginine body levels will remain
permanently lowered. Arginine and lysine are thought not compatible.
In theory, the more lysine you take, the less arginine you absorb.
So what's the matter with that? Well, arginine promotes wound healing
and the potential effects of arginine deficiency are muscle weakness,
insulin production impairment and so forth. The negative relationship
between arginine and lysine is not yet fully proven. But I'm concerned
about the long-term side effects of lysine daily intake. You may
include it in your dietary management of genital herpes protocol
for a few months if you feel it provides an improvement but you
may also want to switch to another remedy after a few months just
to prevent arginine deficiency.
If
you want to follow the lysine dietary management of genital herpes
trail, here are some guidelines. The best way to have a lot of lysine
is to eat plenty of plain yogurts. I would recommend trying Kefir
instead. More information on Kefir below. You may also take supplements.
There is a lysine supplement I like very much that was created specifically
for people with herpes. You can find more information about this
lysine
supplement for herpes here.
High lysine/Low arginine foods:
Plain
yogurt
Hard Cheese
Soft cheese
Milk cream
Milk
Avocado
Foods
to avoid:
Peanuts
Chocolate
Nuts
Cereal grains, seeds
Oatmeal
Raisins
and all high arginine foods.
You
can find more information
on lysine for herpes here
Back
to top
Dietary Management
of Genital herpes: Cranberries?
I've
used cranberries to prevent and treat urinary tract infections successfully.
Alpine cranberries have a disinfectant effect on the urinary system.
It works wonderfully when combined with vitamin C and Vaccinium
macrocarpus (oxycoccus macrocarpus).
Now
researchers at the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan have found
that a compound called proanthocyanidin A-1, isolated from the evergreen
shrub vaccinium vitis-idaea also called cowberry, lingonberry or
Alpine cranberry, significantly suppressed herpes type 2 infections
in vitro without any toxic effect.
Chun-Ching
Lin and his team said that the cranberry compound did not reduce
the infectivity of the virus but did reduce the effects of the infection
by preventing viral attachment and penetration, and disturbing the
late stage of infection.
Lab
tests are not sufficient to evaluate the potential of any active
compound. But you could do your own personal human testing by taking
vaccinium vitis-idaea tincture or juice and see what happens. I
use the vaccinium vitis-idaea extract made according to gemmotherapy.
Gemmotherapy uses fresh buds and sprouts macerated in a base of
alcohol with glycerin and water. Gemmotherapy is very mild but effective
quite its products are easy to find in Europe but maybe a little
more difficult to find in the US. Boiron is the main manufacturer
of gemmotherpay extracts.
Anyhow
don't hesitate to drink, eat and feast on lingon cranberries. They
don't have known contraindications and they just taste lovely. If
you have good results, please tell me the good news. I'm sure we
would all be delighted to hear your feedback, good or bad.
Back
to top
Dietary Management
of Genital herpes:
The Kefir trail
Kefir
is a milk fermented beverage that can restore the intestinal flora.
It contains 270 mg of lysine per100g ( 3.52 oz) which is pretty
good because plain yogurt, one of richest source of lysine, contains
311mg per 100 mg, just 41 mg more than Kefir. And Kefir doesn't
contain any arginine at all whereas plain yogurt contains 105 mg.
This could suggest that Kefir is an even better source of lysine
than plain yogurt.
Kefir
is also a probiotic. That means it contains micro-organisms that
restore and add to the intestinal flora. It is a much stronger probiotic
than any yogurt. A strong intestinal flora promotes a strong and
healthy immune system. Actually, Kefir has been found to be immune-stimulant
in animal studies and antimicrobial so milk Kefir may provide several
benefits against herpes. Kefir has been used for the treatment of
herpes but I haven't found any scientific data supporting it.
If
you want to learn how to make kefir at home take a look at Dom's
Kefir making in-site. This website feels a little bit like a maze
but it's filled with great info on kefir. Kefir is very easy to
make once you have the kefir grains. I make them from organic milk.
I find it delicious but you may find the taste a little bit strange.
Sweetening it with honey or maple syrup may help.
A little
advice; start slowly. I've noticed that Kefir had very nice detoxifying
properties and may be a little laxative at first. So I'd advise
starting with one glass a day. If you're allergic to dairy products,
you can make a stronger Kefir with less lactose in it. Dom's explains
everything really well. Please avoid Kefir starters and use Kefir
grains instead. This way you'll be sure to make the real kefir.
Kefir is a beverage a little thicker than milk but much more liquid
than yogurt. I tried to make yogurts out of Kefir and it just doesn't
work. So don't let your milk ferment too long.
Dietary
management of genital herpes conclusion, I hope you understand
by now that the dietary management of genital herpes encompasses
many more options than just eating more lysine and less arginine.
If you're really are interested in controlling herpes through a
good diet you should also visit the pages below.
If you want more information and guidelines on how to use foods to treat and prevent herpes as well as natural remedies that can help stop genital herpes symptoms in 2 days, I recommend you read Herpes Wise. The information contained in this book has helped me remain herpes symptoms free for more than 3 years now.
Over
the counter Remedies for Genital Herpes :
OTC products for genital herpes can bring relief and help treat
and prevent further herpes infections. I have used, studied
and reviewed many of them for you so that you can make a wise
decision. They are several that very useful. Learn more about
OTC remedies for genital herpes on this page. |
Herbal
treatments for herpes:
Learn how to use herbal and natural remedies to treat and
prevent herpes outbreaks. |
Genital
Herpes Pain Relief:
Genital herpes can cause a lot of pain especially when blisters
are forming. I know and use several products that can bring
immediate and efficient relief for genital herpes pain.
|
Contact
us I Subscribe
to our Newsletter I
Disclaimer
|
