Herpes is a viral infection that can spread from one person to another via skin-to-skin contact, such as kissing and sexual intercourse. The body’s antibodies play a vital role in reducing its severity and limiting the length of recurrences. So, it’s important for patients with herpes to maintain a good diet and nutrition to boost immunity.
Below are some diet and nutrition tips to help manage herpes.
- Eat Root And Green Leafy Vegetables
The body should be slightly alkaline with a 7.35 to 7.45 pH level to maintain homeostasis or good internal balance. Alkaline-rich foods, such as beans, legumes, root vegetables, and green leafy vegetables, help increase the body’s pH level to reduce blood acidity, which is thought to be a culprit of chronic inflammation in herpes.
Green, leafy vegetables are high in vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients, which can help with herpes’ negative consequences, such as headache and fatigue. The best examples include collards, kale, broccoli, and dandelion greens. These vegetables are perfect ingredients for green vegetable soup, vegan creamy leafy green soup, and other similar veggie recipes. You may find out here about other foods that can help prevent genital herpes outbreaks.
- Consume Berries And Citrus Fruits
Patients with herpes should eat foods high in antioxidants, such as berries and citrus fruits, to reduce the buildup of free radicals that can harm the body.
Free radicals cause oxidative stress, disrupting immune defenses against bacterial and viral infections, including dormant herpes virus. In addition, these fruits are rich in vitamin C, which helps improve immunity and faster wound healing.
Eat or drink a dose of whole fruits and fruit shakes to help improve your immune defenses and avoid the worsening or recurrence of herpes. Take extra caution when consuming fruits if you have high blood sugar levels. Talk to your doctor and nutritionist to create the best diet plan for you.
- Don’t Miss Oily Fish And Seafood
Oily fish, like salmon, tuna, sardines, anchovies, and mackerel, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that help fight inflammation, strengthening the body’s immune response. Grilled fish, salads, or fish soup dishes with vegetables are perfect, delicious recipes to get a daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent herpes outbreaks.
On the other hand, seafood, like lobster, clams, and crabs, have l-lysine, an essential amino acid that helps support immunity. L-lysine also helps produce enzymes and antibodies that can combat the herpes virus.
- Try Delicious Healthy Meat Recipes
Beef and chicken are rich in B vitamins. If you love beef steak, roasted chicken, or soup dishes made from beef or chicken, you can indulge in eating them at lunch or dinner to boost your body’s vitamin B complex levels.
Vitamin B helps strengthen nerves and improves immunity. So, consume beef and chicken alongside brown rice, peas, beans, and other foods high in B vitamins to satisfy your cravings and help prevent herpes recurrence.
Aside from beef and chicken, patients with herpes can also benefit from eating pork and turkey. These meat varieties are also rich in l-lysine to protect the cells from viral attacks.
- Choose Healthy Foods And Eat Right
Patients with herpes must eat healthy meals at the right time.
Also, don’t delay eating. Eat at the same time every meal every day. Skipping meals can compromise the immune system, triggering herpes recurrence.
One can control herpes naturally by avoiding certain foods, such as those high in sugar, coffee, white flour, and chocolate. Patients with herpes should also avoid processed meats, fried foods, alcohol, and soft drinks.
Choose whole grains, beans, legumes, fresh fruits, and vegetables. The fewer preservatives or cooking processes, the better.
- Get Enough Sleep For Proper Nutrient Absorption
The body needs enough rest and sleep to use all the nutrients in food for essential vital organ functions. Complex body processes, such as immune defense, require the body to perform at its maximum with the help of proper diet and nutrition.
However, the production and the release of harmful toxins and hormones, such as cortisol, increase when the body experiences stress. Such an internal event can weaken the body’s immune defense mechanisms. Therefore, a crucial aspect of holistic herpes management involves getting enough sleep for proper nutrient absorption.
Conclusion
Proper diet and nutrition are important for people with herpes. Foods rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, zinc, lysine, and alkaline are highly recommended. Managing herpes can be challenging. However, patients can attain a good quality of life despite their condition with proper planning, especially when maintaining a healthy diet and nutrition to improve immunity against the herpes virus.
