What causes cold sores (or oral herpes and fever blisters) in most folks? By the time you are done reading this article, you will know for sure what causes cold sores in nearly all situations.

What causes cold sores? The short answer is the herpes simplex virus. About 80% of the sores are caused by herpes simplex type 1 - the rest by type 2.

Usually the herpes virus is dormant, hiding deep in the ganglia of your facial nerves. For about 30% of infected folks it never becomes active. The other 70% will experience at least one cold sore within 9.5 months.

If the herpes virus senses the right conditions, it will travel through the nerves to the surface of your face. It enters surface nerve cells and makes them create clones of the virus.

As the cells become full of newly created virus, you will notice swelling of the area. When full, the cells are destroyed to release the virus. This is what makes the open sore.

Basically, the herpes simplex virus is what causes cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes sores. But, we really need to focus on is what conditions we can avoid to keep the virus from becoming active.

They call them triggers. Here are the three primary triggers that will create conditions favorable for the activation of the herpes simplex virus.

1. POOR IMMUNITY.

An effective immune response is directly related to the quality of your antibodies. Certain factors must be available for your body to build great antibodies.

The strength of your antibodies is directly affected by the quality and quantity of nutrients in your diet. This includes both food and nutritional supplements.

Frequent cold sore events mean your immune system is too weak to protect you. You should begin eating more vegetables - especially those grown organically. Your best quality nutrients, by far, come from the foods you eat.

In addition, it would be smart to add a daily multi-vitamin to your diet. This makes all the difference for many folks in preventing cold sores. But, beware of those worthless grocery store vitamin pills.

Find a reputable store that specializes in vitamins. They will have the quality products you need. Look for high levels of B and C vitamins. These burn up fast when under stress.

2. ARGININE AND LYSINE NOT WELL BALANCED.

Arginine and lysine are two very important amino acids critical to your good health. The also are important when it comes to cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes.

For the cell to create new particles of herpes simplex virus, it must have ample arginine nearby. Without this one main building-block, virus cannot be created. Thus a cold sore is avoided.

Lysine is not friendly to herpes simplex virus creation. In fact, it is like putting water on a fire. Your cells store both these amino acids in the same area. Space is limited - the more of one protein, the less space for the other.

Increasing your intake of lysine, and saturating your cells with it, will reduce the arginine stored in the cells. Eating lysine foods, such as dairy products, is your best source of body-ready lysine. Lysine supplements work great too.

3. YOUR ACID-ALKLINE BALANCE IS TOWARD THE ACID SIDE.

To remain in perfect health, your body needs to be on the alkaline side of the pH scale. The pH scale has 14 points. 7 is neutral. Below 7 is acid and above 7 is alkaline.

Your body tries to maintain pH levels of 6.5 to 7.4. When you drop below 6.5, you are becoming acid. This is inviting illness - and responsible for causing cold sores.

The more acid your body, the lower your oxygen levels. This hampers your immune defenses. The herpes simplex virus finds this a perfect environment for activating. Pop - diet or regular - and sugar are acid producing products to avoid.

Also, winter causes cold sores because it causes your body to move toward an unhealthy acid level. Cold, less exercise, lower intake of vegetables and limited outdoor activity all play a big part in acidifying your system.

Avoid acid producing products mentioned above. Eating more green vegetables, like asparagus, will help raise your pH levels. And, you can get excellent alkalizing supplements at the vitamin store.

There a few other causes of cold sores to share with you. But, hopefully, this short article has helped you toward answering the question of what causes cold sores in your life.

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