You have an important event coming up, that you’re feeling a bit nervous about. Or a critical meeting that you’ve been working hard on and hoping to perform well at. You wake up in the morning and there it is. Plain as day. And ugly as sin. Cold sores can be a real pain in the wrong place. They aren’t just extremely irritating and painful, they are also very embarrassing to have. But take heart. You’re not alone. In the United States alone, there are 3 million cases of cold sores every year and 90% of us encounter it at least once in our lifetime, with 40% of the population dealing with chronic and recurring cold sores. There are many ways of preventing cold sores from occurring in the first place. Let’s take a look at what they are.
1. Stop Sweating The Small Stuff
Your immunity levels need to be high in order for your body to protect you against any microbial invasion. If you’re stressed out most of the time, the chronic stress will lower your body’s immunity making it a good target for viruses and bacterial infections. Even the cold sore virus (herpes simplex) which is always in your body, in a dormant state, will get reactivated and cause a cold sore flare up. Pick a way to unwind and to keep your stress levels from impacting your immunity.
2. Use A Lip Balm
Too much exposure to the sun can cause a cold sore flare up in someone who’s had an exposure to the herpes virus before. It’s a good idea to use a nontoxic SPF lip balm when stepping out into the sun.
3. Boost Your Immunity With Green Tea
Drinking jasmine green tea has proven benefits as far as upping the body’s immunity goes. It does this by boosting the T-regulatory cells in the body that form an important part of the immune system.
4. Add Mushrooms To Your Diet
Mushrooms are known to have immunity-boosting properties. They help keep viruses and viral infections at bay. Adding mushrooms to your diet on a regular basis will help reduce the number of cold sore episodes you get.
5. Reduce Your Sugar Intake
The use of sugar has spread throughout the world like an epidemic. And sugar is like an addictive drug, making it difficult for us to get off the sweet stuff. But sugar impacts the immune system and the precious time that the immune system needs to spend in protecting the body gets spent in battling the impact of sugar, thereby making us vulnerable to recurring episodes of infections like cold sores.
6. Increase Your Vitamin C Intake
Vitamin C happens to be an excellent immunity booster and is known to be an effective antiviral. Add Vitamin C rich foods to your diet like citrus fruits, kiwi, kale, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
7. Have Blueberries
Organic blueberries aren’t just delicious, they also happen to be a great antiviral food medicine. You can blend them into your smoothies or use them as great salad toppings.
8. Eat Zinc-Rich Foods
Zinc-oxide based creams are a very effective treatment for cold sores. People who use topical zinc-oxide based ointments within 24 hours of the appearance of a cold sore have the cold sore lasting for a much shorter duration than people who don’t. Eating foods rich in zinc has a similar effect on cold sores. Mushrooms, wild fish, grass fed-beef, turkey and pasture-raised eggs are all excellent sources of zinc.
9. Use Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has amazing antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. A tablespoon of it can be blended into your smoothies or it can be applied directly on the lips for an effective remedy against the herpes virus.
10. Use Peppermint Essential Oil
Studies have revealed that peppermint is a very effective remedy against the herpes virus. After just a few hours of exposure to this essential oil, tests have revealed a 99 percent death of the herpes simplex virus.
11. Get Enough Sleep Every Night
A good night’s rest goes a long way in ensuring our immunity is strong and stays strong when there’s a microbial invasion. Disturbed sleep or a lack of sleep for just one night can heighten our inflammation levels and lower our immunity.
