Herpes is a viral dermatological disease that affects everyone, regardless of gender and age. Most often manifests itself in the lips. If the virus has spread in the body, the disease can manifest itself in the genital area. About 90% of the world's population have herpes simplex virus, but only in 5% of these people the virus shows symptoms of the disease; The diet for herpes plays an important role: adhering to proper nutrition, you can quickly get rid of the external manifestations of the disease.
The Importance of Diet Adjustment for Herpes
Why do some people have cold sores on their skin while others carry it for years without relapse? It all depends on the immune system and the body's ability to resist the virus. The diet for herpes on the body is of great importance. Proper nutrition can increase the defenses of the immune system and the virus simply cannot manifest itself "in all its glory."
A diet for herpes will help get rid of relapse faster. A person will begin to feel more energetic, vitality will increase, and working capacity will increase.
List of allowed products
Do not think that the disease involves too strict dietary nutrition. Herpes is a non-life-threatening disease. Therefore, the principles of building a diet are much more loyal than those for people with diabetes or a sick liver.
List of allowed products:
- any vegetables and fruits with juice with low acidity;
- any cereals cooked on the water;
- dairy products with a low percentage of fat content;
- starch products;
- low-fat varieties of meat and fish;
- seafood: squid, oysters, caviar, shrimp;
- protein-rich sports nutrition;
- chicken and quail eggs;
- greens and herbs.
Prohibited Products List
The diet for herpes on the body involves a complete rejection of the following products:
- muffin, bakery products (especially fresh, the use of crackers in rare cases is permissible);
- sugar both separately (in tea or coffee), and as part of sweets and rolls;
- factory sweets (contain trans fats in most cases);
- fatty meats - beef, pork;
- legumes, nuts and seeds.
It is forbidden to fry food. For example, if a patient makes soup, he should not passer vegetables in oil. It is also not recommended to eat rich broths. Otherwise, the digestive organs get a lot of work, and instead of fighting the virus, they spend energy on digesting fatty foods. The herpes diet involves eating lean dishes.
The best cooking methods are steaming or in water, stewing, baking in the oven or on the grill without adding oil.
Alcoholic beverages with herpes infection
A complete refusal is very important not only during treatment, but also during remission. Even at a time when there are no obvious manifestations of the disease on the skin, the virus still roams in the blood. And if the body's defenses fall below a certain level, herpes will not slow down to manifest itself on the surface of the skin.
Alcoholic beverages, without exception, contain ethyl alcohol. This is a powerful substance that affects every corner of the human body. Not only organ tissues, but also the nervous system, and the psyche, and, of course, immunity suffer from intoxication. Often, patients find that a glass of wine in the evening or at dinner cannot hurt. In fact, even natural wines contain alcohol. If the dosage is exceeded over 10 ml per day, it acts on the body as an intoxication substance. The diet for herpes involves a complete rejection of any alcoholic beverages.
List of allowed drinks
Of course, denying yourself alcohol, you can compensate for this with other tasty liquids. A diet for genital herpes, for example, involves the use of a moderate amount of the following drinks:
- slightly concentrated fruit and berry fruit drinks, compotes;
- weak tea;
- chicory and cocoa;
- mineral water with and without gas;
- sweet bottled tea.
Strong coffee and tea, sweet carbonated drinks are prohibited. They exert an unnecessary load on the pancreas, which almost always leads to a decrease in immunity. As a result, the herpes virus has "free hands": the body is not able to resist it.
Approximate diet for a week
The result of treatment depends on the strict observance of proper nutrition. The diet for herpes on the body is quite loyal and allows the use of many favorite dishes. Here is a sample diet for the week:
- Monday: for breakfast - oatmeal on the water, a snack - one boiled chicken egg, lunch - boiled potatoes with goulash from chicken, dinner - seafood salad dressed with linseed oil.
- Tuesday: breakfast - steam protein omelet with vegetables, lunch - cabbage and sour cream, snack - banana or apple, dinner - favorite fish fillet baked with herbs in the oven or on the grill without oil.
- Wednesday: buckwheat porridge with a piece of boiled veal (you can use low fat sour cream as a sauce), lunch - okroshka or mashed potatoes soup made of vegetables and turkey, vegetable salad, snack - fruit and berry salad, dinner - chopped turkey or veal, baked on the grill or in the oven.
- Thursday: for breakfast - a glass of low-fat kefir and a package of bread, a snack - one banana, lunch - a soup of vegetables and low-fat meat, a snack - one apple, dinner - buckwheat porridge with pieces of meat and the addition of low-fat sour cream.
- Friday: oatmeal on water, a snack - packaging of low-fat cottage cheese, lunch - boiled potatoes with goulash from lean meat, dinner - vegetable stew (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, zucchini).
- Saturday: a piece of low-fat cheese, weak tea or compote, a snack - packing diet bread, lunch - vegetable stew and veal steak, a snack - fruit salad, dinner - stewed or baked fish with seafood.
- Sunday: buckwheat porridge in milk with the addition of a sweetener and butter, lunch with cabbage, buckwheat porridge with meat, a snack - favorite vegetables and berries, dinner - fish steak with herbs.
Protein in the diet of humans with herpes
As can be seen from the sample menu, the diet for herpes involves a rather high protein content. Every day in the diet should be present meat, fish, seafood.
Protein is the building material for every cell in the human body. During the relapse of herpes, you can not refuse this nutrient. Vegetarianism is not a good idea for a person with a weakened immune system. This style of nutrition will further deplete the body and its defenses, which will lead to even more frequent relapses of herpes.
What diet for herpes involves the rejection of protein? Such nutrition does not exist: animal protein is necessary for bone and muscle mass, for the beauty of the skin and the rapid recovery of the epidermis after a cold sore lesion. vegetable protein in its amino acid profile loses to the animal. So in no case should you give up meat, fish and seafood. Sour-milk products are also good as a source of protein.
Carbohydrates: harm or benefit?
A common mistake of patients is a complete rejection of carbohydrates. Yes, sugar and sweets really have to be completely abandoned. But complex carbohydrates are the basis for high-quality immunity.
They give a person energy. Without a normal amount of these nutrients, healthy working capacity and blood composition are impossible. Every day you should eat cereals, diet bread, vegetables and fruits. Lovers of bakery products do not have to abandon it for good. You can bake whole wheat flour yourself, in which case it will be a complex carbohydrate. You can harvest crackers. Purchased crackers almost always contain too many spices and salt. With self-preparation, this problem can be avoided. As a sauce for crackers, patients use low-fat sour cream with the addition of greens.
The Importance of Fat In Herpes
Polyunsaturated fats - unrefined cold-pressed vegetable oils. They are necessary for the rapid recovery of the epidermis after a cold sore lesion. For women, the rate of fat intake is 1.5-2 grams per kilogram of weight. For men, this amount is slightly larger - about 3 grams per kilogram of weight.
Oil should be added to cereals, soups and main dishes. This will diversify the taste and satisfy the body's need for fats.
The principles of building a diet: balance BZHU
Diet with herpes zoster in adults involves the most complete diet. For women, the total calorie content per day should be at least 1500 kcal. For men - at least 2800 kcal.
The balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is 30:20:50. In this case, you need to get kilocalories from healthy products. Avoid eating foods that the diet prohibits with type 2 herpes.
What happens if you regularly undernourish
Often patients, wanting to get rid of the manifestations of the disease as soon as possible, limit themselves to eating food. You can’t do this categorically! Regular malnutrition will lead to weakness and decreased immunity. And this, in turn, will inevitably end in a relapse of herpes.
Patients have been trying for years to get rid of herpes., Take Acyclovir and immunomodulators. But, most often, their efforts are unsuccessful precisely because of an unbalanced diet, regular alcohol abuse and smoking. If you adhere to the basics of proper nutrition, immunity is restored quite quickly (provided that there are no chronic autoimmune diseases), and herpes recedes.
The diet in the treatment of herpes does not allow severe restrictions. The patient should always be full. Moreover, he must satisfy his hunger solely at the expense of healthy products, which are included in the list of permitted foods, for example, on a diet with herpes zoster. Regardless of the type of virus, the principles of nutrition are the same.
Doctors Tips: How to Avoid Relapse
The advice of dermatologists will help for many years to forget about the manifestation of the disease:
- a complete rejection of any alcoholic and sweet carbonated drinks;
- quitting smoking (if the patient suffers from this bad habit);
- the use of properly prepared dishes;
- moderate physical activity;
- refusal of overwork at work and at home, time should be allocated for proper rest and sleep;
- regular intake of vitamin and mineral complexes;
- lack of emotional stress: the state of the nervous system is very important for achieving remission in all skin diseases.
These tips seem commonplace and simple. but it is their regular performance that can restore immunity and save a person from constant relapses of herpes.
Medical monitoring after relapse
Blood composition should be constantly monitored. Very often, the patient suffers from herpes, and after he passes the general and biochemical blood tests, it becomes clear the serious presence of chronic diseases of the internal organs. If the liver, pancreas, intestines and stomach are not working properly, then digestion is disturbed. As a result, immunity suffers.
As a result, all the patient’s efforts to get rid of herpes, taking antiviral drugs are all useless. It is necessary to cure chronic diseases of the internal organs, or at least achieve remission. Only in this case can you get rid of any type of herpes for a long time.
Once every six months, you should continue to donate blood for biochemical analysis and monitor indicators. If there is a deviation from the norm, adjust the diet and change the lifestyle. Often patients underestimate the effect of psychoemotional state on health. About 35% of cases are associated with nervous breakdowns, constant stress, and insomnia. Immunity will not be strong if you do not stabilize the nervous system.