21st
Preventing cold sores
In my previous posts I was talking about what cold sores are and a little bit about herpes simplex, but maybe what I haven’t made clear yet is that once infected with the virus it will remain with you for life - there is no cure. Because of that you need to shift your attention from healing cold sores to preventing cold sores from occurring in the first place.
Put simply, cold sores occur when your body’s immune system can no longer suppress the herpes simplex virus enough to keep it in its dormant state. The immune system becomes weakened when you suffer from a viral infection such as cold or flu, which is why cold sores are commonly triggered by these illnesses, but there can be other factors which stress the immune system and mean it is unable to function at its best.
What I’m talking about are some common problems of the modern age, namely stress, poor diet and lack of exercise. Although you’ve almost certainly heard it before, now is the time to make lifestyle changes that will not only help you lose weight and make you feel better, but will also help your body fight herpes simplex virus with the result that you suffer fewer cold sore outbreaks…
Making lifestyle changes is never easy as they are usually the result habits of a lifetime, and maybe the way in which you were brought up. It is really difficult to suddenly change life that and by doing so you are also adding to your stress levels, so don’t try and change everything at once and if you sometimes fall back into old habits, don’t worry about it too much - as long as you don’t fall back each and every day!
The advice on diet is simple; eat a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, avoid processed foods which have too much salt, sugar and preservatives and don’t eat too much read meat. While it’s simple to say it can be difficult to actually do, so try gradually to introduce the fruit and veg and eat junk food once a week as a treat to yourself to eating well the rest of the time. It can also be beneficial to take lysine supplements, an amino acid linked to preventing cold sores found in many foods that you’ll find in any good health store.
When it comes to exercise, don’t overdo it, especially if you’ve been a couch potato for a while. Try walking briskly for 30 minutes every day, with the aim of doubling your heart rate. This has huge benefits for your health and not only will you be helping your immune system but your heart will thank you too.
Finally you need to identify where you can reduce stress in your life and ensure you have adequate sleep. While stress but its very nature can be outside our control, work out what you can change to benefit you. While regular exercise will help you relax and deal with stress better, you may also like to tackle it by taking up meditation or yoga (great for mind and body by the way), but having a good network of friends where you can discuss things openly and honestly also helps massively.
Okay, that’s all for now, spend some time thinking about what I’ve said and see what you can do in your own life. As I said before, you can’t change everything at once - a bit at a time will be far more effective in changing any bad habits you have.
