You do not realize it now, but in the next few moments you will learn exactly what causes your cold sores and what you can do right now to eliminate them.

First, let us not forget that the root cause of all cold sores is the herpes simplex virus. There are eight known types of herpes, two of which have been identified as causes of cold sores. These are herpes simplex type 1 or type 2. Nearly everyone in the world carries these highly contagious viruses. Normally, this virus is dormant. Should it become active, it will begin the replication process on your lip or nose. This is basically what causes cold sores.

The key, then, to learning what causes cold sores is actually to determine what the triggers are that causes the your cold sore virus to wake up.

Stress is claimed to be the main trigger for causing cold sores. Most common stress triggers that create these sores are illnesses or injuries. Cold sores often occur during a bout with the cold or flu virus. The cold and flu season is also the cold sore season, summer or winter.

Injury to the target area is a common trigger that causes cold sores. Sunlight is excellent for your skin, but sunburn is not. Sunburn commonly triggers outbreaks. Burning your lip with hot pizza, or biting it, or kissing someone with an active cold sore can cause cold sores too.

Any mental stress manifests itself physically, and is quite often responsible for causing a cold sore. Some common "mental stress" triggers are upcoming events such as weddings, class reunions or presentations in front of people.

Eliminating stress is the most often suggested solution for reducing, or preventing outbreaks. Good luck on that, my friend. It is a cop-out statement by folks who really do not understand what it is like to suffer like us.

Face it - no one can totally avoid stress in life. Each person may deal with it differently, both physically and mentally, but the fact remains that stress is part of being alive and active - quite often beyond our control.But we can control what stress actually does to our bodies.

Truth is - stress, through various ways, causes the body to become acid. When this happens, the many viruses living in us see an opportunity to become active. Herpes virus loves an acid situation and will become active if and when that happens.

Our acid and alkaline balance, called pH balance, is very fragile. A pH of seven is neutral. Anything below seven is acid, and above is alkaline. The ideal pH for optimal health is an alkaline 7.4 pH. Your body will do whatever it can to keep your pH near that goal. All minerals help, but calcium is the primary mineral for this purpose.

The ultimate trigger that causes cold sores is an acid body pH below 7.

The ultimate solution, then, is keeping our pH above 7. We can do this with the foods we eat and the nutrients we absorb. The base recommendation for anyone is taking a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. This alone helps greatly to keep your pH in the normal range.

Acid forming foods include chocolate (ouch!), table salt, sugar, soybean, soft drinks, most meat and coffee. Alkaline forming foods include sea salt, stevia, asparagus, garlic, mineral water, wild rice, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, olive oil, flax, and, believe it or not, most citrus fruit.

Now do not panic. You do not have to eat like a rabbit. Your diet should simply provide variety and balance. And, be sure to take a very good vitamin and mineral supplement. This alone can prevent a lot of problems.

There you have it. You now know more than 75% of those cold sore victims. Keeping your body pH above neutral will help prevent the ultimate trigger that causes cold sores.