I believe I suffer from herpes simplex. I break out on my lips, usually after I drink any type of juice or eat fruit. I love juice and fruit, and I miss and need them in my diet. Is there a natural substance I can use to offset these breakouts, so I may enjoy fruits and juice? If not, how can I get the benefits of fruit and juice? I have done several "test" experiments, and I know they are causing these breakouts.

A.

You might have herpes simplex. Some people do have breakouts that are triggered by certain foods. See your doctor when you have a breakout to have a culture done to find out if it really is herpes. If it is herpes, you will want to avoid the juice and fruit that are triggering the breakouts. Herpes breakouts can be decreased by avoiding foods that are high in the amino acid arginine (chocolate, peanuts, seeds and nuts), taking a supplement of the amino acid lysine along with vitamin C and zinc, decreasing stress and improving immune function. A topical cream with a concentrated extract of the herb lemon balm or one that contains glycyrrhetinic acid from the herb, licorice root are helpful to speed the healing of the herpes sores.

If the test for herpes is negative then there are two other possibilities. One is that you are sensitive to the acids in fruit and fruit juices. Citrus fruits and juices are particularly likely to cause this problem. The other possibility is that you have an allergy to the fruits and juices. The test experiments you have done have confirmed that the particular fruits and juices that you are using are responsible for the breakouts, so it probably is not necessary to have food allergy testing to confirm this. Elimination of allergenic foods for a period of time followed by a rotation diet can be successful in allowing a person to eat allergenic foods. With a rotation diet, the allergenic foods are eaten no more often than once every 4-7 days. It is important to identify food families, and not eat related foods more often than the 4-7 day schedule. Fruit families include gourds (melons and squash), plums (plums, apricots, cherries, peaches, almonds and persimmons), citrus (grapefruit, lemon, lime, oranges and tangerines), cashew (mango, cashews and pistachios), banana, grape, pineapple, rose (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and rosehips), apple (apples, pears and quince), blueberry (blueberries, cranberries and huckleberries) and papaya.

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