wanting to change diet since herpes diagnosis

[beautifullychaotic]

So I've been told that living a healthier lifestyle can help minimize the amount of outbreaks I get. This includes, obviously, diet. However I honestly don't even know the first thing about a healthy diet. I live in a big Italian family where eating healthy was never even thought of, so I grew up just eating whatever and not gaining much weight (19 yrs old, 4'9", 107 lbs). Living in a household where there's low income,eating healthy on a low budget isn't easy. I know I won't be able to convince my dad to eat healthy with me, but I was wondering, from those who have had herpes for quite some time, what I can eat that's healthy that isn't so expensive? What are some ways you have changed your diet that seems to have some effect on your length of outbreaks?

[aimee]

Diet change worked for me I was diagnosed a yr ago and

started eating less foods with Arginine and more foods

with Lysine and taking Lysine, zinc, copper & vitamin B every day

I've only had 3 herpes outbreaks in the entire yr which were minor, 1 lesion each time,

the last one lasted 2 days. If you take care of yourself.. it shows inside and out ♥

[misskellyrenee]

I am actually a nutritional science major, so I may be able to help you out.

I try to follow the MyPlate recommendations which basically say to make half your plate veggies, 1/3 whole grains and 1/3 lean protein. Also include fruit.

Veggies can be fresh or frozen, and frozen veggies can be relatively cheap.

Protein- lean chicken, turkey or fish.

Whole grains- whole grain pasta, lentils, pearled barley, brown rice, etc.

Cutting back on added sugar is a biggie. It can be hard if you have a sweet tooth like I do!

You can have some of the same things, but just in smaller portions.

I know you said you are Italian and are accustomed to that diet, but it is workable. Choose red sauce over cream sauces and opt for smaller portions- dish your own plate.

In my research, there isn't much link between diet and herpes. There is limited information on arginine rich foods and worsening an outbreak but not much information on it triggering an outbreak.

They key is to take care of your mental health and being active. A healthy active lifestyle will help you make better choices in general. Its about keeping your immune system healthy. You can't really boost it (that one is a myth) but you can make up any deficits that you might have.

[beautifullychaotic]

Thanks for the help guys. It's much appreciated! I'll try to get some of those things in my house. I live with just my dad now who doesn't make much money, so my dinners consist of frozen tv dinners, ramen noodles, and fast food whenever we run out of that stuff and to be quite honest I'm sick of it. We have actually cooked our own meals but lately not so much since I've been working and my dad finds no need to cook dinner anymore and I don't feel like cooking when I get home at 10 at night and have to be up in the morning at 5:30 for school, so it's either don't eat for the day and complain or eat unhealthy and still feel like crap. I do work out but eating like this really doesn't balance out. And now that I have herpes I really wanna change my diet like now.

[mr_hopp]

@misskellyrenee – I love that we have a real deal nutrition science major in our midst. :) Thanks for all that awesome information. I totally agree that the whole lysine/arginine debate is less important than keeping an overall healthy immune system. That's the holistic approach. If I take tons of lysine but eat nothing but McDonalds hamburgers and donuts every day, my body won't be at tip top shape and my immune system will suffer. But if I eat as healthy as I can, exercise and think as healthy (positively) as I can, then my body will be better suited to return the favor by helping me out when I need it. :)

[aimee]

I agree Adrial, I've always tried to eat healthily as a whole, eating lots of fruits, vegetables and lean protein. I try to cut out most of the carbs as thats what works for me and working out 3 times a week. I will admit that one of my bo's was the result of a party week in Mexico eating every deep fried & sugary food that was available on the buffet mixed with alot of drinking for an entire week without taking vitamins.

 

Another one of my outbreaks was the result of an extremely stressful time I was going thru with work. I can see the correlation between a healthy immune system and no outbreaks, one results in the other.

[misskellyrenee]

Glad you all appreciated the tips, tiz what I'm here for!

[Peachyogurtisawesome]

I drink a lot of orange juice and black coffee no sugar or milk added. Do i need to stop or cut back on drinking a lot of it during an outbreak to shorten the symptom time? I probably drink half a pot to a whole pot a day of coffee.

[misskellyrenee]

I am a big coffee drinker myself, but if you aren't noticing that you are getting jittery or feeling sick from all the caffeine then I don't see the problem.

 

I do worry about the orange juice. Juice tends to have a lot of added sugar so I would cut back on it. Juice is basically a really concentrated form of fruit. It takes a lot of oranges just to get i cup of orange juice, but you are still consuming the amount of sugar.

 

If you cut back on that, and replace it with something like a whole grain, or something with fiber, you'll notice your blood sugar won't spike so much and you might stay fuller.

 

I don't know if any of these will shorten symptom time, but you may feel better which is always a plus.

[Peachyogurtisawesome]

Thanks kelly. I really don't eat a lot of bread cause my brother told me even though the whole grain has vitamins that make u fuller longer that all bread turns to sugar in your intestines cuz it digests fast. But i never really thought of the orange juice having so much sugar in there. But u are absolutely right i just went in my fridge and seen it had 28 grams of sugar per serving. My dr. pepper 10 calorie has less sugar in it than that. Thanks for the info

[misskellyrenee]

White bread will do that because it is a lot of simple carbohydrates. Whole wheat bread or other whole grains/stuff with fiber has more complex carbs so it will be longer lasting energy.

No prob for the info, you can PM me anytime if you have any questions;