Lysine vs Arginine

[smilenl]

Ok - so there seems to be quite a few places on the web that suggest that increasing food that contain lysine and reducing those that contain arginine in you diet can help control/reduce outbreaks.

The list of food that contains high sources of arginine seem to be the following:

L-arginine is found in high content in protein rich foods such as peanuts, walnuts, brazilnuts, cocunut, animal products (milk and milk products, pork, beef, chicken, turkey), seafood, cereals (oats and wheat), and chocolate. Legumes such as soybean/tofu and chickpea are also rich natural sources of L-arginine.

Has anyone notices arginine as a possible trigger?

[Caliope]

I absolutely can verify that foods high in arginine cause me to have hsv ob symptoms. The funny thing is that before I knew that I had hsv I thought I was allergic to nuts and corn etc. mostly because foods high in arginine would make me itch something fierce. When I was diagnosed and did my research I was absolutely amazed about how right on it was about arginine causing me to have problems.

BTW I had no ob's until about 10 years into hsv. But I did experience issues with itching and discomfort from certain foods and hormone fluctuations.

The one and only thing that ever made me have ob's with blisters was stress and emotional events.

[HC-Support-Team]

Lysine, Arginine and Herpes Outbreaks

Relevant Articles on this site:

Lysine, Arginine and Herpes

Diet and Herpes

Hope this helps,

Shenda

[sunny1]

lysine vs. arginine

While the links suggested by the forum administrator are helpful, and i have seen that particular table (lysine / arginine ratio) on other sites, it is very limited.

In fact, i have found many conflicting articles which suggest that some foods may have more of less lysine / arginine...depending on the table and or article.

Can anyone recommend a good book on this topic? People eat much more varied foods nowadays... many already avoid many of the foods on the "table" in question (wheat, dairy...)

When in doubt, dousing foods with angevita yeast, which is the one thing i know to go with everything and to be rich in lysine...and quite delicious...

another question i am putting out there is: while salt should be avoided, it's nice for taste of course, i have used BRAGG for many years as a substitute ... it's kind of like a soya sauce but has no refined salt added and is pure amino acid.

what i would like to know is what is the composition of BRAGG exactly, in particular, what is the lysine / arginine ratio.

[smilenl]

Thanks - it's going to take a while to get my head around what's good to eat and how to make sure it's in my diet...

This thing is just so annoying!!!

[georgina_1987]

I Love Lysine!!!

[annyi]

Arginine gave the first break out

It was during my liver flush, which use high dosage of arginine to aid sleeping with an empty stomach. I never had a bf with herpes(or not aware of), and this first break out happened after I spend two days in water park, while I was not dating. It was massive and took three weeks for the lesions to go away. In the beginning I was blaming the waterpark for it...

[bluefrog]

if you did not have an outbreak until 10 years into herpes, how do you know how long you have had it? It can be determined by the number of years, months, etc??

[Caliope]

bluefrog - if you are responding to my post. I was married and started having weird symptoms. My ex never admitted to an affair or having hsv. I had strange pain in the vaginal area but no ob's then the itching started and the dr's could not determine why and never did any blood testing etc. I divorced and the symptoms continued and became this excruciating sciatic back pain and I went back to the dr's who thought I'd injured my back. Nothing would relieve the pain but time - I suffered for years - limping etc. The itching continued till I'd wake up bloody in the morning from scratching in my sleep. Dr's prescribed cortisone creams and antidepressants but no relief and no testing. Then daily headaches for no reason at all and more testing but for allergies came up negative. Dr's were confounded and couldn't explain my symptoms.

Finally I had an actual ob and went to the dr but tested negative for the swab culture (timing is everything) a year or so passed and another but much worse ob and another swab test but this time it is positive. I began to research hsv and found that my symptoms all along have been hsv related even the back pain and when I started antivirals miraculously all of the symptoms that had been driving me crazy have stopped. I had to do the math to come up with 10 years. It could be longer but it all fits.

[bluefrog]

wow, that just sounds like torture. i have also had alot of unexplained back pain since this all started; well actually since the first time i had sex with my current bf, which was in march 2007, and then, dont ya know, an ob (which i did not know at the time or even thought it could be herpes). I am miserable and do not feel like myself and am tired of being itchy and sore and uncomfortable. maybe i should talk to my doctor about a daily med to ease the discomforts. his recommendation was wait until i have another ob, if i even do.

[Caliope]

I was having an ob when I last saw the dr. but he didn't tell me to take the antivirals right away. Since it was a first diagnosis and first rx I waited and it got worse. Finally after a month I decided to start taking them and initially it freaked me out but after a week things began to get better. The longer I take them the better I feel but I still was getting ob symptoms near my period etc. so I adjusted the dosage myself up to 3 pills a day and I'm finally having carefree days and feeling good again.

Mine are the Acyclovir which you take more often than Valtrex.

I religiously take my vitamin supplements and avoid trigger foods. At the time I upped my antivirals I also upped my Lysine to 1500 mg. a day or more and added Olive Leaf.

[leebee]

What exactly are the trigger foods you avoid? I've been trying really hard not to eat chocolate, rice, corn or nuts and avoid caffeine but I feel like there are so many other foods that are out there that I need to avoid as well.

[witty]

This is confusing. depends what site you are on are who you are talking to. some say soybeans, protein foods like cheese or meats (not processed) are high in lysine.

And things with arginine to avoid such as choc, red wine, peanuts and other nuts, coconut, sugar, coffee, gelatine, beer, peas, wheat, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, popcorn, oatmeal, br. rice, squash, berries with seeds

Other people or sites say the opposite. Some say chicken has more lysine/ others say avoid chicken because it has arginine.

Does anyone really know for sure? If so, let me know.

[Shayna]

This is confusing. depends what site you are on are who you are talking to. some say soybeans, protein foods like cheese or meats (not processed) are high in lysine.

And things with arginine to avoid such as choc, red wine, peanuts and other nuts, coconut, sugar, coffee, gelatine, beer, peas, wheat, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, popcorn, oatmeal, br. rice, squash, berries with seeds

Other people or sites say the opposite. Some say chicken has more lysine/ others say avoid chicken because it has arginine.

Does anyone really know for sure? If so, let me know.

I agree this topic is very confusing!!! I read one thing and then hear another. What I'm doing now is taking L-lysine a few times a day. I hope that will balance out the arginine I eat/drink.

It's difficult to know how to eat when can't get the information straight.

Please, somebody, let us know what's- what?

[Caliope]

before I was diagnosed I found that I would get super itchy from all types of nuts and corn and maybe eggs.

then when I was diagnosed I learned about the balance of arginine and lysine and it all made sense.

The foods that definitely bug me are the same and I avoid them but now I make sure that I consume more lysine foods or lysine supplements to offset any arginine. I do drink coffee and the occasional soda but not daily and I drink lots more water to make sure I am always hydrated and flushing stuff out.

Some people are naturally more sensitive to some food items than others. Plus corn for example shows up in almost every processed food in some degree and it is hard to avoid. corn starch, corn syrup, corn meal, popped corn, cornbread, corn flakes . . . it's everywhere and nuts are in many items as well.