Are you trying to figure out if fruits contain arginine? If so, the answer is yes! Fruits contain arginine, but the amount varies from fruit to fruit.
If you’re looking for this info because you want to know how to to prevent a herpes outbreak with diet, then you don’t necessarily need to know which fruits have arginine, but which ones have MORE arginine than lysine.
Why? Because arginine feeds herpes and lysine blocks the activity of arginine. They compete for absorption in the body, so consuming more lysine than arginine helps to prevent herpes from replicating.
Simply put, consuming too much arginine and not enough lysine with it can trigger a herpes outbreak.
(This info is for anyone with HSV1, HSV2, Shingles, EBV/Epstein-Barr and other viruses in the herpes family.)
This is why knowing which fruits have more arginine than lysine can be critical information for us. Trust me, I figured that out the hard way!
Ok, let’s get to it. Below are the fruits with the highest ratio of arginine to lysine. This means that each of these fruits all have at least twice as much or more arginine than lysine per serving. If you’re like me, these are the ones we need to be really careful with and possibly even avoid altogether if we want to reduce our risk of a herpes outbreak.
⚠️ IMPORTANT! The information below is for the common varieties of the raw produce versions of each fruit. Consuming the JUICE of any of the fruits below will result in a MUCH HIGHER content of arginine overall, so please be careful and keep that in mind! ⚠️
Top 10 fruits with the highest ratio of arginine to lysine.
#1 Grapes and Raisins
Topping the list at #1, I would like to formally crown grapes/raisins as the Queen of Arginine. 👑
1 packed cup of raisins (165g) has 681mg of arginine and 139mg of lysine.
1 cup of grapes (151g) has 196mg of arginine and 41mg of lysine.
That’s almost 5 TIMES the amount of arginine vs lysine for each one!
#2 Grapefruit
1 cup of grapefruit cut into sections (230g) has 200mg of arginine and 44mg of lysine.
With just slightly less than grapes and raisins, that’s almost 4 1/2 times more arginine than lysine. Yikes! Looks like I’ll be getting my dose of vitamin C elsewhere!
#3 Goji berries
5 tablespoons of dried goji berries (28g) has 202mg of arginine and 65mg of lysine.
That’s more than triple the amount! I was super bummed about that because they are a super fruit packed with lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
I would risk having a tiny amount, but only if I knew for sure I had plenty of lysine to make up for it.
#4 Oranges
1 cup of naval oranges cut into sections (165g) has 190mg of arginine and 63mg of lysine.
That’s 3x the amount! Living in Florida, I’m sure this was one of the many foods I ate that caused a herpes outbreak for me – before I knew anything about lysine and arginine.
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#5 Blueberries
1 cup of blueberries (148g) has 55mg of arginine and 19mg of lysine.
Even though blueberries have almost 3x more arginine than lysine, I’ve been able to have appx 1 cup of them in my smoothies because of the awesome protein powder I use!
The protein powder has 2,090mg of lysine and only 700mg of arginine! Woohoo – smoooooothie time!
#6 Tangerines (a.k.a. Mandarin Oranges)
1 cup of tangerines (195g) has 133mg of arginine and 62mg of lysine.
Yep, these are the vibrant little fruits usually sold in bags under the brand name Halos or Cuties.
If you’re like me, you probably find those names quite ironic!
#7 Jackfruit
1 cup of jackfruit (165g) has 228mg of arginine and 114mg of lysine.
Aaaaahhh another one I was super bummed about! When I saw there were meat alternatives coming out using jackfruit, I immediately searched with high hopes only to find out… wah wah wah… they’re on my no no list. :/
#8 Olives
1 tbsp of olives (8.4g) has 6mg of arginine and 3mg of lysine.
Those might look like tiny numbers, and if you only have a few olives, it will probably be fine. Especially if you’re eating them alongside other foods that are high in lysine.
However, if you’re someone (like me!) that stuffs your face with them at a party (and you don’t balance them with another high lysine food), that double ratio can catch up with you quickly, so be careful!
#9 Plantains
1 cup of cooked, mashed plantains (200g) has 132mg of arginine and 74mg of lysine.
Now here’s where you can start working some lysine arginine magic! If you pair the quantity above with 3oz of Bistec de Palomilla (Top Sirloin), you’d be beating that arginine with more lysine! Here’s what I mean:
| Food | Lysine(mg) | Arginine(mg) | Ratio of Lysine to Arginine |
| 3 oz Bistec de Palomilla (Top Sirloin) | 2107 | 1612 | 1.3 |
| 1 cup (200g) cooked, mashed plantains | 74 | 132 | 0.5 |
| COMBINED TOTAL | 2181 | 1744 | 1.25 |
See? Easy peasy right?! So feel free to enjoy plantains as long as you have them in the right amount and paired with the right higher lysine foods!
#10 Elderberries
1 cup of raw elderberries (145g) has 68mg of arginine and 38mg of lysine.
Sooooo remember at the top where I said that the juice versions of any of these fruits are going to have a much higher content of arginine than the info I’m sharing here?
I learned the hard way with taking elderberry syrup for immune system support, because it definitely caused me to have a herpes outbreak. I didn’t connect it at first, but at different times, I took elderberry chewable tablets, and then another time I took elderberry syrup and whammo – herpes alert! I finally put 2 and 2 together, and haven’t had any since. (Even though it tasted soooo yummy)
Instead of elderberry products, I actually found something even better called Immunity Shots by California Natural. Now, whenever I feel even the slightest little bit “under the weather,” I reach straight for it and nip it right in the bud.
It has been my #1 go-to for years and has worked wonders for me, with no outbreaks! Since I have the 1oz spray bottle (shown at left), now I buy the 4oz bottle and just refill the little sprayer, which saves me money over time.
Hint: If you decide to do the same, just make sure you shake the 4oz bottle really good before pouring it into the little sprayer. I notice “the goodies” can tend to settle in the bottom.
Disclaimer: I am NOT claiming that it can prevent, cure, or treat any disease, including any well-known viruses that you may have heard of!
There you go, friends! Those are the top 10 fruits with the most arginine vs lysine ratios.
Remember to keep in mind that you can still balance out some of this high arginine, low-lysine fruits by combining them with another high lysine, low-arginine foods or adding a good high-lysine, low-arginine protein powder to a smoothie.
Wondering which high lysine foods you can combine them with? You can search for foods individually on the USDA FoodData Central website (and try to find your way through a bunch of other unnecessary data), or you can grab a copy my Lysine vs Arginine Food Ratio Charts below!
The Lysine vs Arginine Food Ratio Charts
This is a 60+ page quick reference PDF I put together to help people just like you and I who are focusing on preventing herpes outbreaks through our diets.
The data is formatted in a way that makes it easy for you to see not only the lysine and arginine content of each food, but more importantly, its ratio of lysine to arginine.
BUY NOWSave yourself hours of time. I did the hard work so you don’t have to! This clear, concise quick reference PDF contains all the info you need and nothing you don’t.
Keep your life simple with this go-to reference guide and never again worry about doing multiple searches over and over, then sorting through unnecessary info to find what out what you really want to know…
HOW MUCH LYSINE VS ARGININE DOES THIS FOOD HAVE? All of that info is now condensed and right at your fingertips at a moment’s access.
The foods in each chart have been sorted with the highest (best) lysine to arginine ratio at the top, and the lowest at the bottom. This way, it’s easy for you to know which foods are safe and which to be careful with.
Here’s sample image of one of the pages inside to give you an idea of what you’ll be getting. (There are 11 pages for veggies alone!)
Sample Page: Lysine to Arginine Ratio of Vegetables
To be clear, the Lysine to Arginine Quick Reference Guide contains specially designed Lysine to Arginine Food Ratio Charts. The charts don’t contain any of the other nutritional data such as protein, carbohydrates, etc.
It only contains the vital info you need to decide the following:
- Whether you can consume a certain food by itself (for the foods with more lysine than arginine)
- Whether you need to combine that food with a high lysine food to balance it out (for those that have slightly more arginine than lysine)
- Whether you might be better off avoiding that food entirely (for the foods that are super high in arginine compared to lysine. I call these the herpes party starters lol.)
It was specially designed for people like you and I who are trying to consume high lysine, low arginine foods in order to prevent herpes outbreaks.
Get your copy today and use it for the rest of your life! Easy peasy! 🙂