Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Causes Of Cold Sores - Don't Suffer From Another Cold Sore

By Denny Bodoh

Want to know the primary causes of cold sores? Read this quick article. You will uncover the top three sources and you will likely learn what the causes of cold sores are in your life.

There are many causes of cold sores that you hear about. Stress, illness, injury and winter weather are a few. They are not the actual causes of cold sores however.

Think of these as cold sore triggers. They are not causes of cold sores but will bring one about - as explained in a minute.

What they actually do is change your body in such a way as to encourage the activation of the cold sore virus.

Basically, every cold sore, oral herpes or fever blister ulcer is caused by the herpes simplex virus - type 1 or type 2. It hides in your nerve root cells.

When your body conditions are right, the herpes virus moves to the surface along the nerve, enters the nerve cells there and destroys them as it creates new virus.

Since the herpes virus lives in the nervous system, it can sense the slightest changes in your body caused by the cold sore triggers mentioned above.

Here are the top three causes of cold sores. These conditions of your body will encourage cold sore virus activity.

1. pH BALANCE TOO LOW.

Your body's pH has a lot to do with your health. The pH scale is a measure of how acid or alkaline you are. On a scale of 1 to 14, below 7 is acid and above 7 is alkaline. For best health you should be slightly alkaline.

As long as your body is alkaline (above 7pH) you will rarely get a cold sore. Should your pH drop into the acid zone, the herpes virus could easily activate. Of all the causes of cold sores, this is the top one.

Stress lowers your pH levels toward the acid side. This is why they say stress causes cold sores. Fevers, cold weather and sun exposure also can cause your body to become acid - and are also considered causes of cold sores.

Coffee, soda and alcohol lower pH and causes cold sores in many people. Meats like pork and beef will do so also. Most vegetables are alkaline when digested. You must keep your diet in balance to prevent a cold sore event.

Although an acid pH may be the main cause of cold sores, the next two triggers are also causes of cold sores - especially when combined with a low pH.

2. LYSINE AND ARGININE OUT OF BALANCE.

Arginine is a protein and the main ingredient used for creation of the herpes simplex virus. If no arginine is available, the herpes replication process cannot occur and no cold sore will happen.

Your cells have a special area within the cell to store arginine. Lysine is also stored in the same area. If you take in high levels of lysine, your cells will make room for it by getting rid of some arginine.

Lysine will not work for creating new herpes virus. Lysine cannot cause cold sores. Replacing arginine with lysine in your cells will greatly reduce cold sore frequency and duration.

Taking lysine supplements is the most common way folks get enough lysine to prevent cold sores.

3. VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS.

The strength of your immune system, and the anti-body soldiers, is dependent on several factors. The most important of which is proper quantities of vitamins and minerals.

A feeble immune system causes cold sores. It would be wise, especially if you get frequent cold sore outbreaks, to get a good supply of vitamins and minerals from food and supplement every day.

Even the American Medical Association agrees that today we do not get optimum quantities of essential vitamins and minerals from food alone. You should also be taking a premium quality multi-vitamin supplement every day.

Especially important is calcium. Cold sore victims are often calcium deficient. Your body uses calcium to help keep your body in an alkaline state.

As you have discovered in this article, the main causes of cold sores are an acid pH, high levels of arginine in your cells and a weak immune system.

When you experience any stress, your body will tend toward the acid side. It also makes your immune system much weaker by consuming massive amounts of critical vitamins and minerals.

There may be many cold sore triggers, and much more you can do, but without a doubt these are the main causes of cold sores in most people. - 16955

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