Top 3 Causes of Cold Sores You Need to Know About
by Denny Bodoh
What causes cold sores for some people, but not every one?
There are three primary cause of cold sores which you will see in this article. Once you are aware of the real causes of cold sore outbreaks, you will easily be able to take control and prevent future events.
Cold sores are caused by the replication process of the herpes simplex virus. Most of your life the virus is dormant and hibernating in the nerve cell roots - called the nerve ganglia. When the cold sore virus senses a change in your immune system and will take the opportunity to causing yet another cold sore.
The cold sore virus has a very clever early warning system because it lives in your nerve cells. To discover what causes cold sores is simply to understand what the basic triggers that encourages the cold sore virus to begin its replication process.
The three primary triggers that cause cold sores are as follows.
1. STRENGTH OF YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. Your immune system, and the associated anti-bodies, help keep the herpes simplex virus under control. Several factors are responsible for the strength of your immune system. The most important factor is your nutrient intake from foods and nutritional supplements.
If you get cold sores frequently, the first thing you should do is address your nutritional intake. Increase vegetable and fruit intake. Most importantly, start taking a good quality multi-vitamin. This is a must for today's busy life - and it helps make up for the lack of nutrients in the commercial foods we get now.
2. YOUR LYSINE AND ARGININE BALANCE. These two much talked about amino acids have a strong involvement in causing cold sores. High amounts of arginine in the cells encourages cold sore virus to replicate because it is an important ingredient in the new virus.
Actually your cell contain many different and vital amino acids. Each amino acid has a specific use. Arginine and lysine both use the same storage space in the nerve cells. Therefore, the more lysine in the cell the less arginine you will have. Since lysine does not support creation of new virus, increasing lysine in your nerve cells can prevent future cold sores.
3. ARE YOU ACID OR ALKALINE? The herpes simplex virus can be very active when your body is in an acid state. The pH of your body can vary from 5 (very acid) to 7.9 (quite alkaline). Your body will strive to stay around 7.4 on the pH scale. When your pH balance drops into the acid zone (below 7) you are at risk for cold sores and other illnesses.
Your body usually keeps your pH in a very tight range of 6.5 to 7.4. Do not go crazy on this but keep in mind that most vegetables and fruits will help your body maintain a good pH balance. Do not use this as an excuse to go vegetarian. Carbonated soda and beer are strong contributors to an acid situation in your body - often causing cold sores.
Now, you probably have heard that it is stress that causes cold sores. That is definitely true.
If it is stress that causes cold sores then why did I wait until now to mention it? Primarily because every one states that the culprit is stress, but they do not explain why. When you get stressed your body goes into the defense mode and this causes the body to go toward the acid side of normal.
Additionally, stress uses up nutrients that your immune system needs to remain strong. Specifically, the B vitamins and vitamin C are considered the stress vitamins. These are used up quite quickly with any stress. Also, calcium is depleted at a much faster rate and causes the cells to store more arginine. It is quite the domino effect. This is how stress actually causes cold sores.
Colds, flu and fevers, sunburn, dental work and any damage to the body are common physical stress events that cause cold sores. Mental stress always affects us physically, whether we notice or not. Conflict with people, jobs and upcoming events, such as your wedding, are very common causes of cold sores.
Hopefully you now see how cold sore events are based on the level of health of your immune system. You also now know exactly why stress is called the number one cause of cold sores. This should help you to develop a strategic plan to eliminate the causes of cold sores in your life.
Concerned about
cold sores? prior to buying anything online, you must be sure to check out Denny Bodoh's powerful information about cold sores and some amazing
cold sore remedies Don't reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free
unique content version of this same article.
