We've all been there before. You wake up in the morning, you feel an unusual yet familiar sensation around your lips and go to the mirror and notice the discoloured print of the cold sore to come…
But what do you do? Do you return to bed, dive back under the covers and go into temporary hibernation? Do you put on the face of fury and go out to face the world in your least magnanimous of moods or do you reach for favourite cold sore treatment, philosophically remind yourself that things could be worse and get on with the rest of your day?
And, finally, if you are of the latter school of action, is there anything else you can do immediately to reduce the duration and severity of your cold sore's appearance?
Well, how about pairing your cold sore treatment with the ultimate cold sore-combatting breakfast? Here at Herstat we've decided to take a look at what to include and what to leave off the menu to give yourself a fighting chance against an outbreak.
The anti-cold sore breakfast
It is important to stay well-hydrated before, during and after a cold sore outbreak. But why simply do this with water when you can add some super ingredients to further help combat the cold sore?
Begin the day and then accompany breakfast with some anti-cold sore tea:
- Step 1: Infuse water with lemon balm (also called Melissa). Lemon balm has a known anti-viral action against the herpes simplex virus.
- Step 2: Add some green tea leaves to the infusion. Green tea has been used as a medicine for millennia, while studies have shown that some of the compounds in green tea, notably catechins, have anti-viral effects against cold sores.
The next thing you need to do is to prepare something to eat. Unfortunately, you may have to avoid some of your regular breakfast foods. For example, fried breakfasts are an absolute no-no, while many cereals and nut butters are too arginine-rich and lysine-low to be worth consideration here. Also, avoid sugar-heavy foods as well as wheat-based foods that will only be converted into sugar once you metabolise them.
Instead, consider Chopped Papaya and Blueberries with Fresh Plain yoghurt and Honey as your cold sore-battling breakfast of choice. Plain yoghurt is three times as high in lysine as it is arginine, papaya is relatively low sugar while also being lysine-rich, and blueberries, as we all know, are full of immune-boosting vitamin C. As for the honey – yes, it might be heavy on sugar, but it is also good for combating cold sores, particularly if it contains propolis, nature's most magic breakfast ingredient as well as one of its most effective cold sore treatments!
