Herpes and the Vegan Diet
Edited question:
I was diagnosed with herpes a few months ago and every herpes web site I go to says to eat foods high in lysine and low in arginine, both amino acids. I take lysine supplements but you would not believe what foods are high in lysine which discourages outbreaks (meats, cheese, milk, fish) and high in arginine which encourages outbreaks (nuts, sesame seeds, oatmeal, whole wheat, coconut, bran, grits, fruits, and many vegetables). It seems that most everything a vegan survives on is taboo when you are trying to avoid an outbreak or minimize the healing time. I don’t want to compromise my beliefs but I am slowly dwindling away.
I don’t know that I told this person anything he/she didn’t know, but I thought maybe some readers would have some experience with herpes and a vegan diet. Here was my answer:
I do not have any experience working with people who have herpes, and there wasn’t much nutrition information from websites that I consider particularly reliable.
You can look up the lysine and arginine content of any foods at the USDA website. You can also download an Excel sheet of the entire USDA database, from Dr. Bill Harris’ website, which makes things a lot faster. With it, you can sort the information to see what foods are highest and lowest in lysine and arginine .
When I sorted foods by the lysine:arginine ratio I found that mangoes, pears, peaches, figs, cherries, corn, apricots, turnips, tomatoes, pineapples, papaya, and dried apples all had ratios of 2.00 or higher. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of protein in these foods.
Here is a website that compiled some of the USDA data into a chart showing the lysine to arginine ratio.
It might not be a bad idea to supplement with L-lysine at about 1,000 to 3,000 mg per day, but I would suggest talking to a physician before doing so. Below, I list four studies that showed mixed results in lysine supplementation. Two studies showed a benefit, one study showed a benefit among some people, and one study did not show a benefit. I could not find any clinical trials using a diet low in arginine.
Here is a discussion of a vegan diet and herpes simplex on the website Vegans Represent which might be of some interest, though I cannot vouch for any of the information there:
I hope to eventually find time to try to put together a vegan meal plan low in arginine and high in lysine. I would make that available on VeganHealth.org.
Abstracts of Studies using L-lysine to Prevent or Treat Herpes.
1. Milman N, Scheibel J, Jessen O. Lysine prophylaxis in recurrent herpes simplex labialis: a double-blind, controlled crossover study. Acta Derm Venereol. 1980;60(1):85-7.
Some patients had less recurrence on 1,000 mg per day of L-lysine.
2. McCune MA, Perry HO, Muller SA, O’Fallon WM. Treatment of recurrent herpes simplex infections with L-lysine monohydrochloride. Cutis. 1984 Oct;34(4):366-73.
1,2489 mg of L-lysine per day decreased recurrence rates. 624 mg per day was not effective.
3. DiGiovanna JJ, Blank H. Failure of lysine in frequently recurrent herpes simplex infection. Treatment and prophylaxis. Arch Dermatol. 1984 Jan;120(1):48-51.
400 mg of lysine, three times a day (1200 mg/day total) didn’t reduce frequency of recurrent infections. Abstract didn’t say for how long.
4. Griffith RS, Walsh DE, Myrmel KH, Thompson RW, Behforooz A. Success of L-lysine therapy in frequently recurrent herpes simplex infection. Treatment and prophylaxis. Dermatologica. 1987;175(4):183-90.
1,000 mg of L-lyisine three times a day (3,000 mg per day) for six months resulted in less infections and symptoms.
July 12th, 2010 at 11:30 am
i am recently vegan, maybe 3 months now, and have had so many more breakouts of my simplex on my lips than ever before. prior i would get 1, maybe 2 a year when rundown etc. sometimes in june in particular, not sure why. now i have had back to back breakouts for the past 3 weeks and had another a month and a half ago. i am taking lysine but not every day and don’t know how much to take daily. i eat a lot of nuts, coconut milk, almond milk, chocolate etc. so maybe i’m just going to have to live with the outbreaks. trying ionic zinc as wll as i read that it may help with the virus.
August 8th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
I had been vegetarian almost a decade before going vegan. I never had a herpes outbreak until I went vegan. Had a couple when I was vegan, the last one I had lasted a month & it wouldnt go away. Left a scar on my lip & then I decided to give up veganism. I havent had a problem since.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:08 am
I feel you friend. It’s really really inconvenient. My stable of rice, beans and nuts are out of the question when I have an outbreak. In addition to the “okay” foods that you posted, potatoes and beets have pretty good ratios and are very substantial and filling. Stay strong.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:00 am
has anyone ever tried the lysine supplements and got benifts from it?
May 27th, 2011 at 11:49 pm
Lysine definitely helps me, even in preventing breakouts. I take about 3,000 mgs as soon as I feel a tingle. Water is also important, as is monitoring how acidic your diet is (acidifying foods make the body a more conducive host to viruses). Research acidifying versus alkalizing foods; you may be surprised – lemons are alkalizing and grapefruits are acidifying…go figure.
I was vegan for a year and then contracted oral herpes, and the vegan diet was not helping. I was having back to back outbreaks, so reluctantly went back to animal proteins and haven’t had an outbreak since. I feel really disgusted by this, and am desperate to find a way to be healthy and moral and happy again. Searching the web. Anybody have any solutions???
May 29th, 2011 at 6:23 am
it is manageable. since my post in july last year i have had one cold sore on my lips. a small one on my upper lip. i realized i needed b complex, and a full complement of aminos more often. so i’m vegan and see less breakouts now than in the past, when i wasn’t vegan. having lysine on hand is a good idea though. i took several thousand milligrams often and this breakout was very short and painless.
January 31st, 2012 at 7:03 pm
I have found that high doses of vitamin C along with Lysine is the next best thing to a cure-less disease. Check online to see what the proper dosage to use.
April 24th, 2012 at 6:33 am
I also had a little panik attack when I found out that being a vegan did increase my herpes outbreaks. I had been a vegan for three months when I found out that. I bought lysine and experimented a few strategies to solve this problem. Here is what works for me ( I’m back to about one outbreak/year):
- First I completely stopped eating peanuts. If I happen to eat peanuts on a very rare instance I also take a 1000mg lysine pill the same day. But I stopped eating peanut butter and replaced it with whole almonds butter. And I found out that almond skins can prevent herpes outbreaks.
- When I am stressed or tired I avoid eating chocolate and nuts and i supplement with lysine
- If I feel that something is bothering me I immediately take a lysine supplement and apply Novitra. This cream is on my opinion the very best on the market.
Thanks to these tree strategies I am back to normal and so far I did not experience more than one outbreak a year, however when I was on peanut butter it was more like 4 outbreaks a year. If this is not enough for people with an history of recurring herpes I would advise to see a doctor and take preventive pills that are also given to omnivores with the same problem.
May 2nd, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Peanuts will give me an outbreak for sure, as will lack of sleep, stress, wine, too much sunshine, orange juice, grapefruit juice, etc. A real bummer. Taking two Acyclovir 200MG capsules daily, which I’ve done since 2000, will control outbreaks for sure. I’ve tried to wean myself off this drug several times during the past 13 years without success. Stop or forget to take the pills and outbreaks come back.