Acidic foods and cold sores
There is some discussion on whether acidic foods can trigger cold sore or fever blister outbreaks. However, this data tends to be limited to personal experiences posted on blogs. Doing a quick search of the National Institute of Health database on causes of cold sores, none of the 800 articles focused on acidic foods as a cause for cold sores. While acidic foods may not cause a cold sore outbreak, once we have an outbreak we need to think about their potential impact.
Acidic foods and drinks hurt!
There are many things to think about when you have a cold sore outbreak. One of them may be reducing the amount of acidic foods or drinks you consume. First, they can hurt! How many times have you eaten an orange or had a drink that burns an open cut or sore? The reason this is happening is because of your body’s pH. Your body has various levels of pH. Typically your mouth and saliva range between 6.5 – 7.5 pH. Now compare that with stomach acids which have a pH of 1.5 – 3.5 to break down the foods you eat. When you eat an orange or drink a glass of wine with pH levels that range from 3.3 – 4.5, the difference in pH levels is extreme. To put that in context, these acid foods are over 1,000 times more acidic than your body’s pH. The burning and stinging sensation is the chemical reaction from the acidic food coming in contact with your cold sore.
Acidic foods wake up the virus, not heal it!
Wait? You can aggravate the virus? Well, yes you may. Acidic foods can aggravate the healing process of a cold sore lengthening the duration. Those acids are waking up the virus! So, protecting your lips and skin during an outbreak is important. tetraVIV Advanced Cold Sore medication has a pH of 9.0 so not only does it help heal cold sores faster but avoids aggravating virus by disrupting its environment allowing your body’s immune system to do its job.
Here’s a checklist of less acidic foods
We think you get the picture on this one. So what can you do when you are in the middle of a cold sore outbreak? Try focusing on foods and drinks that are less acidic, the folks a Clemson University put together pretty neat checklist that you can use as a guide. Remember, you’re not going to burn the virus away. Home remedies that talk about putting ketchup or lemon on a cold sore are just aggravating the virus and causing you pain.
Disclaimer:
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
