Protein Powders

Supposedly we are supposed to avoid higher arginine to lysine ratios in foods. I've been reading that people with herpes should, in general, avoid protein powders.

Protein powders do tend to have a lot of arginine, but they also have a lot of lysine. For example, Optimum Whey Gold looks like it has a lot more lysine than arginine.

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/optimum-nutrition-100-whey-gold-standard-protein-dietary-supplement-powder-vanilla-ice-cream/ID=prod6051343-product

"Typical amino acid profile (milligrams per serving): Essential amino acids; tryptophan 405, valine 1422, threonine 1654, isoleucine 1573, leucine 2531, lysine 2233, phenylalanine 748, methionine 492. Conditionally essential amino acids: Arginine 505, cystine 494, tyrosine 703, histidine 423, proline 1509, glutamine and precursors 4082. Nonessential amino acids: Aspartic acid 2508, serine 1126, glycine 412, alanine 1180."

Anyone here who lifts weights and has looked into this? Or, anyone who can chime in on this? The lysine / arginine thing? Does it matter if you are taking daily valtrex?

I've been fine w protein shakes and remember, it's not a trigger for everyone. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

The whole Arginine/Lysine issue is a very personal one - for some, it's a trigger... for others, they could virtually pathe in Arginine and be ok... I went through a spell where a certain Chocolate and Nut based trail mix set me off every time I ate it... I was in early menopause and I think my hormones were throwing things off. Now I eat all the nuts and chocolate I want and no issues at all :p

Also, if I'm taking Valtrex, that stuff doesn't really matter so much, right?

Supposedly arginine "feeds" the virus.

It only seems to be a flare for some people, not everyone. You'll just have to give it a try and see what happens. You clearly respond well to meds, so I wouldn't stress it.