I love all the comments and emails I get from all of you. Many of them spark new blog posts, especially if I seem to getting the same comment or question frequently.
The other day someone mentioned that oil pulling with coconut oil can actually spread the herpes virus. Upon clarification, this reader was referring to the herpes virus associated with cold sores.
Hmmmm….interesting. I had not come across this particular issue related to oil pulling with coconut oil in any of my researching travels. So of course, I got sucked into to the coconut oil pulling/herpes world trying to determine if this was indeed true.
My knowledge about oil pulling in general told me that this was possible but for a very specific reason. But what about the coconut oil part? Did that play a specific role?
Oil Pulling With Coconut Oil…and the Herpes Connection
I scoured the internet. I pulled every book I had on coconut oil off the shelf. I tried to find a definitive answer but I couldn’t.
So here’s the thing. I wrote about oil pulling once. I specifically mention that sometimes, symptoms can get worse before they get better. It is the body’s way of moving all the bad stuff out. So likely, this particular person was experiencing something that very often occurs as a result of the body trying to flush out the system. The herpes virus spread.
I honestly do not think coconut oil itself plays a specific role in spreading the herpes virus if used as the oil of choice during oil pulling. If anything, I would think that coconut oil would help reduce the severity of outbreaks. You can read more about coconut oil’s cold sore fighting prowess in this post.
So what do you all think? Have you ever noticed an issue with coconut oil and the herpes virus? Do you think that coconut oil itself caused the issue or was it just a normal “side effect” of oil pulling?
Starlene @ GAPS Diet Journey says
My first thought was to find out if coconut is high in arginine. My first cold sore erupted on my lower lip in 1991 after a very stressful time in my life (left my home, husband, alone with the children, etc., on welfare). After a few sores learned I could avoid them altogether by taking L-Lysine at the very first inkling (for me they begin as a slight tingling feeling just above or below my lip). And so I went googling and learned that coconut is higher in arginine than lysine. I found this PDF which talks about balancing arginine and lysine in one’s diet. http://www.sandiegohomeopathy.com/downloads/Lysine_Arginine_Foods.pdf Here is a pertinent snippet from the article: “There is a correlation between Lysine and Arginine in Herpes outbreaks. The general rule is reduce the amount of Arginie in your diet and increase the amount of Lysine. Lysine supplementation is also recommended. … Fish, chicken, beef, lamb, milk, cheese, beans, brewer’s yeast, mung bean sprouts and most fruits and vegetables have more lysine than arginine, except for peas. Gelatin, chocolate, carob, coconut, oats, whole wheat and, white flour, peanuts, soybeans, and wheat germ have more arginine than lysine. Supplementing your diet with L-Lysine helps to assure that you tilt the scales toward the lysine side, helping to prevent outbreaks…” According to this article, shredded coconut higher arginine than lysine. (0.27 ratio). That is the only thing I can think where a person might think oil pulling will “spread” herpes.
Larissa says
I did 2 days oil pulling with coconut oil thinking it was like a detox and now I have labial herpes and I googled it because I have a very chilling weekend so I did not understand how the herpes spread. Now I see a lot of post asking the same question, definitely there is a real relationship between them.