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What Really Causes Cold Sores?

By: Denny Bodoh..

What causes cold sores for some people, but not every one?

You will see, in the following article, what the three main causes of cold sores are and how to easily prevent your future cold sore outbreaks.

Cold sores are the result of the creation of new herpes simplex virus - commonly on the lip or nose. For most of the time the cold sore virus is in hibernation in the root cells of your facial nerves. This virus, as with all living things, desires to reproduce itself. It will awaken should the conditions be right for the replication process and will move quickly to the surface.

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. YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. If you are normal and healthy, your immune system can keep the virus that causes cold sores asleep indefinitely. The quality and quantity of vitamins and minerals that you obtain from food and supplements will determine, in a large degree, how resistant you will be to cold sore outbreaks.

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 LEVELS OF LYSINE AND ARGININE. These are two amino acids that are important for your daily health. However arginine also is an essential ingredient in the creation of new herpes simplex virus. If there is a shortage of arginine, the virus cannot replicate and the cold sore does not occur.

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. HOW ACID OR ALKALINE ARE YOU? The herpes virus prefers an acid area for the creation of new virus. The pH scale runs from 1 through 14 with 7 being neutral. Less than 7 and your body starts to become acidified. The ideal pH your body strives for is 7.4 which is slightly alkaline. If you could keep it there, you likely never get sick from any viral or bacterial infection.

The body regulates your pH balance quite efficiently, trying to keep your pH around 7.4. The mineral calcium is the main way it does this. If you have a high acid causing diet, such as carbonated drinks, coffee, meats and pickled products, your body will need more calcium. If you will eat more fruits and vegetables, you will help avoid the acid environment that causes cold sores.

Yes it is true what you may have heard - that stress is the main cause of cold sores.

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.

Stress consumes large quantities of nutrients that your immune system needs to stay vital. The B and C vitamins in particular are used up rapidly. These are known as the stress vitamins and are critical for defense against cold sores. Also, calcium is depleted as the stress causes the body to move toward the acid side. You can see, now, how stress 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.

As you have discovered, the real causes of cold sores are based on the strength of your immune system and your physical health. You also learned the real reason stress causes cold sores. With the information, I hope that you will be able to build a physical strength that will repel cold sores for life.

Keyword Articles: http://www.keywordarticles.org

Confused regarding cold sores? prior to buying anything on the internet, you should be sure to check out Denny Bodoh's excellent information regarding cold sores and some amazing cold sore remedies

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