Diet Herpes Zoster
Diet and Herpes: preventing it at the table
"Let food be your medicine" the maxim of ancient origins, the daughter of Hippocrates, can find evidence in the fight against herpes. Rather than cure, however, it is better to talk about prevention, since herpes cannot be defeated permanently but at best made harmless. Similarly, the diet against herpes has no curative value when the disease is located in the acute phase, so it is unrealistic to expect that the annoying bubbles regress for merit of foods miraculous, even if the integration of specific nutrients at high doses has shown encouraging results. What is certain is that a precise diet and healthy eating in general, can have a great preventive value. We know that herpes is little immunity on the host fertile ground for their own replication, with consequent appearance of troublesome fluid-filled vesicles. To prevent these unpleasant events is very essential to maintain high immunity against the organism, thanks in part to important nutrition.
The diet against herpes is based on a number of scientific evidence, most of which is waiting for acknowledgments. Several studies have, in fact, attributed to certain foods and specific supplements the ability to prevent or even to fight herpes, but conventional medicine interprets these investigations with prudent skepticism, given the limited number of studies about it.
Lysine and arginine
One of the most common advice when it comes to dieting for herpes, is to increase the intake of lysine to arginine reduces the latter amino acid, in fact, seems to promote the replication of herpes viruses, which synthesize protein much more arginine-rich than human.
Lysine is ascribed to the ability to antagonize the arginine from the metabolic point of view, by competing with it in various biological reactions. This advice means, in practical terms, the reduced consumption of foods such as peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, refined sugars, dried fruits in general, and chocolate, preferring foods in which the ratio arginine / lysine is less, as animal protein, dairy and legumes. In addition, It should be paid particular attention to the cooking methods capable of preserving or render fewer bioavailable lysine; according to some studies, the amount of bio-available lysine is reduced by cooking temperatures are too high, or association with a reducing sugar (such as fructose, glucose, or lactose ), sucrose or yeast during cooking. The presence of moisture, however, seems to preserve bio-available lysine, as said the steaming and boiling methods are preferable, to that effect, to fry and grilling.
Regarding any dietary supplements, we suggest taking 500/1000 mg of lysine two / three times a day, while it avoided specific supplementation stems so dear to some sports. The integration of lysine should be moved beyond the range of the maximum dose recommended in cases of active herpetic manifestation.
With current knowledge, this dietary approach towards the problem of herpes seems acceptable, given the discrete number of studies in this regard, and the absence of side effects related to specific lysine supplementation (up to 6g/die). Note, however, that scientific studies seem to focus more on the additional administration of lysine on reducing foods high in arginine, which might - among others - to create an unbalanced diet. The unsweetened cocoa powder, for example, is one of the richest sources of flavonoids, many of them in vitro have shown interesting antiviral properties, and consequently, a high-quality dark chocolate cocoa percentage could even be useful in the prevention of ' herpes. For evidence, see the notes from the end of article for the purchase of lysine powder or tablets, you can refer to this link.
Vitamin C
Although in the circles of medicine lingers the belief that vitamin C does not produce any beneficial effect of the treatment of colds and other viral diseases like herpes, there are some studies (as well as empirical evidence of many regular users) that highlight the effectiveness immunostimulant of this vitamin. We know that ascorbic acid is essential for several immune-system cells such as phagocytes and T cells. Despite this, only in the presence of precise deficiencies of the vitamin C supplementation through specific supplements seems to improve the immune system. By examining the recent literature, it seems that the intravenous administration of vitamin C is effective for pain and itching that characterize the resurgence of ' herpes zoster ( shingles ) very few references about the usefulness of megadose vitamin C (> 3 g / day) in accelerating healing during the acute phase of illness.
With regard to any food supplements, in terms of prophylaxis is suggested the specific intake of 180/500 mg of L-ascorbic acid per day.
With current knowledge, the routine supplementation of vitamin C at doses indicated seems acceptable, even advisable, for the different speech megadoses of vitamin C (> 1 ga day), a practice not accepted by mainstream medicine and popular only among few "fanatics" of this vitamin; medical advice in a very large dose of vitamin C (up to five grams) can be taken and divided into at least three daily intakes, the appearance of herpes prodrome (early symptoms of the disease, as a way of Local heat and itching). At a dose of 2g/die lies the so-called Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), the maximum dose of vitamin C, which presumably does not create problems of toxicity in healthy individuals. As for foods rich in vitamin C, please see this article, keeping in mind the good rules to preserve the content of ascorbic acid in foods.
Zinc
Even more scarce and less reliable from a scientific standpoint, the evidence of the usefulness of zinc taken orally in the prophylaxis and treatment of herpes infections. This mineral, which is abundant in diets rich in fish, red meat, cereals, legumes and nuts, should be included in doses of 15/20 mg / day, taking care to associate - in case of chronic administration - a supplement of copper to prevent specific deficiencies induced by this practice.
With current knowledge, the zinc supplementation is not recommended for the prevention or treatment of herpes.
Additional advice on dietary
In some studies conducted on laboratory mice, ingestion of large amounts of easy sugars (sucrose) decreased immunity, reducing the synthesis of antibodies. Some Similar findings were also found in humans and therefore. It is recommended to reduce the presence of simple sugars in your diet, reducing consumption of carbonated soft drinks, candy, sugary juices, table sugar, and some types of fruit (the candy, the fig, the ' grapes, the chestnuts, the dates and dried fruit intended as dried fruit, like raisins). The reduction of food intake of sugars has proven useful for the prevention of candida, of ' obesity and of ' insulin resistance in predisposed individuals.
The probiotics, special categories of lactic acid content in several milk and yoghurts advertised very last time; it may be helpful in optimizing the immune system, so useful for the prevention of herpes.
The consumption of fruits and vegetables during the season is definitely useful to provide the body with the micronutrients necessary to counter the attack of herpes virus; an important role should be attributed to citrus fruits, berries, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, black tea, kiwi fruit, and unsweetened fruit juice.
Another important tip in an anti-herpes is to NCREASE consumption of fish to the diet to balance the ratio between omega-3 and omega 6, are often biased in favor of the latter for the excessive consumption of vegetable oils in the face of reduced intake of omega three (mainly in fish from the sea, in the ' oil and flax seed, and in ' hemp oil ).
Plant extracts that can be matched to the diet to fight the herpes virus: Echinacea, Eleutherococcus, blackcurrant, lemon balm (topical application)
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