Any Vegans out there?

I'm newly diagnosed and emotionally I'm mostly good.. I am still close friends with the guy who gave it to me, he didnt know he had it, we were tested his IGG was positive mine was negative, but I was having my first outbreak and swabbed positive, and He's been incredibly kind and supportive during both of my outbreaks.

My biggest concern with all of this is eating a diet that will keep the outbreaks away and still maintaining a healthy balance. But if you're a fellow vegan you know how hard it is. I've given up a lot, but, peas, corn, rice, wheat and the list goes on. I'm eating incredibly fresh clean food and avoiding anything processed or on the 'bad' foods list. I've also lost 8 pounds since Thanksgiving. Not that I didn't need to, but I want to stay healthy about all.

My question is this, how strict are you all with your diets? Do you notice Foods/beverages that are triggers? How do you get enough fat in your diet if your main fat source is nuts like mine was? Do I really have to give up chocolate?!?!! Any insight would be greatly appreciated. And I'd love to make some new vegan/vegetarian friends! And carnivores as well

I am vegetarian, and I've only had one outbreak that I'm aware of in 30 years...I have not avoided any specific food...but as you know, hsv can effect everyone differently...are you having outbreaks, or is this precautionary ?

I had my first OB over thanksgiving, it was pretty painful but only lasted about 10 days. And I'm at the end of my second one now. It started Sunday and is actually healing really quickly and wasn't to bad. I believe this one is a reaction to poor diet choices. I had a lot of beer and some caffeine and a slice of bread. I totally strayed from my diet plan.

I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years, eating vegan more often than not. My diagnosis was pretty recent--just 11 months ago--so I am still figuring out my triggers. So far, I haven't noticed any definitive food triggers. Stress and my cycle seem to be the biggest triggers so far!

Hi Positive Herbivore, I too have been recently diagnosed and have been a vegetarian for only a year now. I generally eat quite well but have not given up on my little sweet treats or bread and have almond milk on my cereal and in my tea and drink coffee sometimes too.

As far as OBs are concerned, I can't really say that I've identified my triggers, maybe because my two OBs following my initial one, have been very small and brief so I've not really been looking out for what might have caused them. I'm taking a few vitamins; Vitamin C + zinc, Vitamin B12, Echinacea & Lysine (although I've stopped taking the Lysine for the time being). It seems that some foods affect some people and not others.

Hey all,

Just found this site and joined today.

I'm a vegan of 1.5 years (vegetarian of maybe 7) and I contracted hsv2 about 2 months ago. So far I've been able to continue my vegan diet without issue. I haven't had almonds yet other than in almond milk, though. I'm a bit worried about almonds because they did constitute a good part of my diet. Does anyone know if there's any truth to almonds being among the worst food for someone with hsv2?

Welcome, Jeff! I acquired HSV2 at least two decades ago, but didn't get the diagnosis until last year. I eat almonds all the time and haven't noticed any adverse effects.

I eat almonds! And chocolate..and coffee.. and alcohol. Food does not cause any issues for me.

I discovered mine last week and I do not know how long I have had it but I think it was stress from a break up and school combined with binge eating chocolate and ice cream to cope that caused my outbreak

I am not vegan, but I have gone through phases of it for cleansing purposes, and even done the raw thing before. I am super into herbs, supplements, teas, etc. and this is going to be my main mode of treating my HSV-2. Never say never, but at this point anti-virals and not of interest to me for a variety of reasons.

I think herpes provides an opportunity for someone to really focus more on their health and get healthy which is just a damn good thing to do in general. Eating more whole foods, less processed foods, pay attention to what foods your body likes (and certainly ones you think triggers an outbreak). The key is to get as in tune with your body as possible, as we have the best answers for this, but talking about food triggers with others like this thread is awesome too.l

For me personally, I think the biggest things (not really shocking to anyone I am sure, haha) is get good sleep, be careful with alcohol (key, sugar/alcohol feeds infections), watch foods with high arginine/low lysine, practice something to help manage stress (meditation, yoga, walk in nature, do art, whatever is your thing).

Vegans traditionally do a ton of nuts, so those of us who do need to see if that seems to trigger outbreaks or not. Here is a good link - https://www.ondietandhealth.com/foods-to-avoid-with-herpes. The difference between coconut meat and coconut oil/water is interesting, but makes sense.

Also, look into oil pulling, especially if you have oral HSV. You swish around sesame or coconut oil in your mouth and it is really good for your teeth, gums, and oral heath in general. Coconut oil has anti-viral qualities, so can only help really.

Just found this thread. SO HAPPY there are other vegans on here!

I was diagnosed with Hsv2 two weeks ago. Vegan of 16 years and struggling on food stuff right now. Really don’t want to bring on another OB.

I keep seeing how nuts and soy are so bad, but read oat flakes were okay... anyone tried oat Milk instead of almond or coconut milk? Tastes great, but not sure if it’s better or worse than almond milk?

I am a vegetarian, mostly vegan, 39 year old runner, always been super healthy, but was diagnosed with genital hsv (too early to tell if it's 1 or 2 yet) about 3 weeks ago. What a shock physically and emotionally. It was tough but I'm accepting it and have shifted to doing whatever I can to keep it at bay or eliminate it (I will always hold hope that the impossible is possible)! I hope that my first OB is the worst I ever have, because I don't ever want to go through that again! It prompted me to do whatever I can to keep my body and immune system healthy. I've been doing a lot of research the last few weeks, and in the last few days have started finding these support forums. How cool! Here's what I'm trying.

* A 50 day mineral detox to support cellular health (I'm on Day 8 of 50)

* Trying to avoid processed food, caffeine, sugar, meat (obviously), high arginine to lysine foods. I had a sip of coffee today, and there are small amounts of sugar I'm ingesting in the occasional granola bar or the occasional yogurt (I usually try to avoid dairy but I'm struggling with what to eat and yogurt is quick and easy).

* 3000 mg/day of lysine, 6000-8000 mg/day vitamin C, daily echinacea

* 1/2 gallon+ of water/day to keep flushing my system

Diet is tough, as you fellow veg/vegan peeps have posted. Many of the foods I relied on are high in arginine. I've also noticed in the arginine-lysine ratio charts online some discrepancies. I'm starting to wrap my mind around general ideas of foods to avoid after looking at many charts to get an average of those ratios.

Sunshine75: I thought I was reading that oats are high in arginine, low in lysine (at least according the table I shared above and others I've looked at). I also don't drink cow's milk and I'm currently at a loss for a substitute unless I went with soy, but again, too much soy has it's own health downfalls. I'm struggling with how to get protein as a long-distance runner. So many "quick energy" bars or snack products have high arginine ingredients (nuts, chocolate, oats, seeds) and high sugar. My goal is to make up a granola bar or energy ball recipe with some ingredients that will work together, be H friendly and have some protein.

Soy and black beans seem to be options but I have long followed the "no more than 8oz of soy/week" rule due to its naturally occurring hormones. Sigh...

Where's the "cookbook" or blog for people with H?

Runner gal,

Seems we’re both finding out about all this at same time. The discrepancies on the charts are frustrating. (Thanks for the links, I’m going to check them out). There are also LOTS of items I rely on that aren’t listed at all. I started a list of foods I want to find values for and I’m scheduled to meet with a vegan/vegetarian nutritionist in about 2 weeks to start to sort through a bunch of stuff as relates to the herpes diagnosis and avoidance of outbreaks. Happy to share any relevant info from that.

I’m also starting to compile meal plans/recipes, and healthy snack lists I can fall back on going forward. It’s also a bit of a reminder of really GREAT eats even with the lysine-arginine balance to consider. Since I don’t do dairy at all...this is sort of tricky. Happy to share recipes and meal plans if anyone is interested!. I LOVE to cook and bake and usually do it for others with food allergies. Now, I’m giving a bit of that love to myself. Made some awesome vegan frittatas this morning loaded with sautéed veggies. Used chickpea flour and balanced that higher arginine intake with loads of lysine rich veggies. They were delicious and packed with protein too!

Some of the proteins I’ve used this week:

-tempeh

-black beans and kidney beans

-lentil pasta

-quinoa

-light use of chia and hemp seeds in smoothies

-chickpea flour

While quinoa has more arginine than lysine, it still packs a high intake of lysine and is a complete protein. From articles I’m finding, it’s still recommended to include, especially if you balance that intake with lower arginine foods. So I’ve been doing things like swapping leeks for onions (so far so good and leeks are neutral intake), have increased the kale, spinach, summer squash, and white mushroom intake. Adding several pieces of lysine rich frutis to my day— apples, red plums, mango, pineapple, apricots, etc... also TOTALLY ENJOYING avocados and avacado oil. Making a spinach-avacado pesto tomorrow to throw over sweet potatoes.

Sunshine 75, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful information. I'm stoked that you have a nutritionist to get some of these questions answered. I'd love to keep in the loop with how that goes for you and what he/she says in regards to some more specific of your questions.

Thanks so much for the details on how you're approaching the lysine:arginine ratio! I was really happy to read that avocados are higher in lysine. They're kind of a staple for me. I was curious about quinoa too - it was one that I was confused about. Anyway, I'm glad you had a delicious breakfast and that your research is also inspiring you to eat healthy! I found an energy bar at the grocery store tonight that isn't loaded with nuts, seeds, and oats! I am planning on a 9 mile run in the morning and it will be my snack in the middle of the run!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hi everyone,

Im glad to read all this. Ive had hsv2 genitally for a little over five years. im a 26 y.o female. I eat mostly vegan whole/unprocessed foods but am more flexitarian/freegan as my emotional responses to refusing homemade food are of equal or greater harm to me in terms of an outbreak and stress. That being said, mostly stress (self doubt, fear, ) and lack of sleep are my biggest triggers, connected to and also hormonal shifts (menstruation cycle, digestion). If my digestion is doing great, so am I and my immune system. My mental state is greatly helped my yoga, dance, meditation, artwork/music, herbs, nature.  

Ive gone through the wringer on avoiding different foods for years.  Now, i avoid dairy ( rarely occasionally ill have cow/sheep/goat yogurt) and i avoid wheat (except when i really want an ezekial whole grain / sprouted/ english muffin or toast, or if im at a really good ramen place..). I avoid red meat, occasional fish with high omegas (if you dont eat fish i highly highly recommend increasing your seaweed consumption, especially reds), and minimize white rice (rather have wild rice , quinoa, amaranth or buckwheat). I see the soy controversy has been written of above but I'm not so afraid of anymore as there are lots of studies on its phytoestrogen and carcinogenic risk factors (not an issue). To me the most important thing is that the soy im eating is organic and non gmo, and sprouted when possible. if i can lymph responses I stop eating/drinking it.  I minimize nut intake but when i do i try to make sure their sprouted or mixed with a lysine rich meal. i avoid coffee and occasionally have green tea. I have oatmilk sometimes.

I take a probiotic and olive leaf (liquid) capsule 2x daily, as well as Red Marine Algae capsules (and eat dulse/seamoss). I still actively avoid outbreaks, but im getting better at it. Its all about your balance of the day (amount of sleep, stress, allergies, etc). I do take lysine sometimes but i make sure it also has adaptogenic or supporting herbs like oregon grape root, shitake, echinacea, popolis, licorice, turmeric, astragalus etc). I also take reishi and astragalus tincture, and ashwaganda helps my mood alot.  Biggest thing is that I support my immune system with water and herbs and healthy mineral rich foods, I spend time loving and feeling loved, and connected with the earth and its possibilities. 

Good luck dear ones!

On 12/14/2016 at 10:31 PM, PositiveHerbivore said:

I'm newly diagnosed and emotionally I'm mostly good.. I am still close friends with the guy who gave it to me, he didnt know he had it, we were tested his IGG was positive mine was negative, but I was having my first outbreak and swabbed positive, and He's been incredibly kind and supportive during both of my outbreaks.

My biggest concern with all of this is eating a diet that will keep the outbreaks away and still maintaining a healthy balance. But if you're a fellow vegan you know how hard it is. I've given up a lot, but, peas, corn, rice, wheat and the list goes on. I'm eating incredibly fresh clean food and avoiding anything processed or on the 'bad' foods list. I've also lost 8 pounds since Thanksgiving. Not that I didn't need to, but I want to stay healthy about all.

 

My question is this, how strict are you all with your diets? Do you notice Foods/beverages that are triggers? How do you get enough fat in your diet if your main fat source is nuts like mine was? Do I really have to give up chocolate?!?!! Any insight would be greatly appreciated. And I'd love to make some new vegan/vegetarian friends! And carnivores as well

Hi! I'm recently diagnosed hsv2. I've been Vegan for 5 years, and was diagnosed with celiac 3 years ago so I'm also gluten free. I eat most whole food plant based, so not a lot of processed foods. I never have really gotten much of my protein from nuts (most of my protein is from tofu and dark greens) so I haven't really made any changes in my diet since diagnosed other than watching my sugar intake. Tofu is also a good source of fats along with avocados, chick peas, olives and different oils. I started taking Lysine 1000 mg 1x a day and Vitamin C 500 2x a day after diagnosed. 

If you ever need recipes please feel free to reach out!

@Confused12 @PositiveHerbivore @Bambina3 @HikingGirl @DonnaItaliana @JeffH @MMissouri @nolongerperfect @surfsup @Sunshine75 @Runner_gal @seaweedlover

Hey folks! About 2 and a half months ago I contracted HSV2 both orally and genitally and since then I've been having constant outbreaks and discomfort. I've been vegan for about 12 years and I really don't want to have to give up my diet, but I'm really struggling. I would really appreciate it if some other vegans who are struggling with this virus could reach out to me and provide me some support, advice and suggests that have helped them move forward. I'm in a really low place right now and I'm not sure how I'm going to carry on. 😞