What causes cold sores?

So what's the cause of these little critters then?..Well it's all down to a virus known as the Herpes Simplex Virus. Just to be a little bit more confusing; there are two types of the Herpes Simplex virus. First up you have Herpes Simplex-1. This is the virus that causes cold sores, and also what you most probably have living inside your nervous system. The other type is Herpes Simplex-2 which is the cause of genital Herpes..Nice!
I must warn you that once you have been infected with the virus it will be with you for life, as there in no way of getting it to leave the body. Thats the bad news.
Here's the good news: Although you will always have the Herpes virus in your body, it will not always be in the form of a cold sore, and will normally lie dormant in your cells. It is then up to you, to make sure that it doesn't become active again and turn into a cold sore. The virus lives in your nerve tissue in its dormant state and stays that way until it is awakened from signals in your body . These signals tell the virus that your body is weak and immune system low, and ultimately let the virus know that it is a good time to attack.
There are certain things that will encourage the virus to stage an attack and make a cold sore. When your immune system is low you are at a much higher chance of developing a cold sore. So make sure you do all the right things to keep it well balanced and topped up. Take vitamin tablets daily, and make sure you get enough of that all important vitamin C. You should aim to take in 5000mg of vitamin C a day and can find it naturally in fruits such as oranges and lemons.. yum!
Preventing cold sores is all about having a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating and drinking well, and plenty of regular exercise. You should get a good breakfast in the morning so that your body starts off the day well. If you start off well, you'll carry on and finish the day well, decreasing your chances of getting that cold sore. A good breakfast could include a non sugary cereal, plain yogurt, oats, mixed fruits such as berries and bananas and a glass of fruit juice or water. If you prefer a hot drink, then a cup of English tea would do, just make sure you go easy on the sugar!
Lunch could be something light and healthy like a smoked salmon sandwich with salad, or if you're after something more filling then go for a spaghetti bolognese or a meat and veg dish.
Again for dinner something healthy; pork chops, rice and a few veg would do nicely. Of course you can vary these, but try to keep it simple and balanced between veg, meats and carbs.
Now that I've covered food, I'll very briefly cover drinks/liquids. I have one word: Water.
And lots of it for that matter. Make water your best friend and you'll feel the rewards. Not just in terms of preventing fever blisters/cold sores, but it will also make your skin much clearer and give you more energy. The cells in our body should get replaced on average every few weeks, and as I'm sure you know, a high percentage of our body is made up of water. If you don't take in enough water, then those cells can't be replaced thus leaving you with the older, duller, aging cells, which will leave you tired and with bad skin. If your tired and low, then your immune system will be low, and then what?...you'll be increasing your chances of developing a cold sore.
Okay so you're now going to eat and drink well, but what about exercise? Well you haven't got to sign up to some super pricey gym, you can get more than enough by going for a swim or run 3 times a week. Top that up with some ab crunches at home which you can do lying down on the floor, and if you really want to go all out, buy some free weights and build up those muscles! Just remember to drink lots of....WATER!...you got it.
We've almost covered all the essential topics so that you can stop the Herpes virus transforming into a cold sore, but there are just a couple of other things you must do as well. These are sleep well and try and keep stress to a minimum. I know that me telling you not to stress might sound like a joke, particularly if you have kids, job etc, but learning to control your stress has a lot of health benefits such as keeping your blood pressure down and an array of metal benefits.
If you get a decent amount of sleep at night, for instance at least 9 hours, then this in itself would help to decrease your stress. Even if you can't get huge amounts of more sleep, just go to bed half an hour or 45 minutes early and feel the benefits. Trust me.