4 Impressive Health Benefits of Lysine
- Lysine is a building block for protein. It’s an essential amino acid because your body cannot make it, so you need to obtain it from food.
- It’s important for normal growth and muscle turnover and used to form carnitine, a substance found in most cells of your body. What’s more, it helps transport fats across your cells to be burned for energy.
- L-lysine is the form of lysine your body can utilize. It’s naturally found in food and is the type used in supplements.
- Here are 4 impressive health benefits of lysine.
May Protect Against and Treat Cold Sores by Blocking Arginine
Cold sores or fever blisters are symptoms of an infection, often appearing on the lip or the corners of your mouth.
They appear as fluid-filled blisters that can cause discomforts, such as tingling, pain and burning. Plus, they may make you feel self-conscious about your appearance.
Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which can hide in your spine. In times of stress or if your immune system is weakened, HSV-1 can trigger the development of a cold sore (1Trusted Source).
Lysine supplements may help prevent HSV-1 from replicating and reduce the duration of a cold sore. It’s thought that lysine blocks another amino acid called arginine, which HSV-1 needs in order to multiply ( (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).
One study found that a daily supplement of 1,000 mg of lysine resulted in fewer cold sores in 26 people who were prone to recurrent cold sores.
Interestingly, the study observed reduced cold sore breakouts when a person’s blood lysine measure was kept above 165 nmol/l. When blood levels dropped below this level, cold sore breakouts increased (4Trusted Source).
Another study in 30 people found that applying a cream with lysine, herbs, vitamins and zinc cleared cold sores in 40% of people by day three and in 87% by day six.
Though this study is promising, it did not state the amount of lysine or other ingredients used in the cream (1Trusted Source).
Furthermore, not all studies show that lysine is effective in reducing cold sore occurrence or duration. One review found insufficient evidence to recommend it for treating cold sores (5Trusted Source).