The number one food that causes most canker sores and how simple avoidance is all that is needed for most people to banish them for good!
Chances are, you’ve suffered from a canker sore or two in your life. These painful, open ulcers on the inside of your lips, cheeks, or even your tongue seem to take forever to heal and can really cause some grief!
One young man I know in our community suffers excessively from canker sores. His frequent outbreaks are so bad that ulcers often occur not only in his mouth but also down into his throat. This causes severe pain even when swallowing sips of water.
Canker sores should not be confused with cold sores on your lips or nose that are caused by a virus and are contagious. This cold sore remedy works great for that type of skin issue.
Unlike cold sores, canker sores are not contagious. In most cases, they are the direct result of what you eat.
Even if a canker sore seems to be triggered by something else, like a scrape from a dental appliance like braces or accidentally biting your tongue, the underlying cause is still diet. In other words, the mouth inflammation was already present such that the wound that occurred in the mouth resulted in a canker sore!
That’s right! What you eat GREATLY affects whether or not you suffer from mouth ulcers on a regular or infrequent basis.
The Number One Food That Causes Canker Sores
Guess what frankenfood is the primary cause of canker sores in the Western diet?
That culprit would be high fructose corn syrup or HFCS. Manufacturers sometimes list it as corn sugar on some food labels.
High fructose corn syrup promotes inflammation in the body, which in turn impairs the immune system. An impaired immune system is thought to be the underlying cause of canker sores.
A person on a typical diet of supermarket foods is a prime candidate for frequent mouth ulcers. This is because this stuff is in everything. Plain corn syrup is problematic as well.
This is why eating too much fruit or fruit juice can cause canker sores as well. The sugar in fruit is primarily fructose. Surprisingly, it isn’t the acid in most cases that is causing the problem. Although, acidity may be a contributing factor.
If acid were the primary problem, drinking kombucha tea would also cause canker sores. Most people I know prone to mouth ulcers can drink kombucha regularly without issue.
TOO MUCH FRUCTOSE = CANKER SORES
Even agave nectar, which many consider a health food, contributes to canker sores. The truth is that agave nectar is best avoided. It is highly processed in a manner very similar to HFCS. It is neither healthy nor helpful in any way to the person consuming it. Stay away from it if you want to avoid canker sores!
I used to suffer from canker sores all the time to the point where I had at least one bothering me much of the time.
I haven’t had a canker sore now in over 25 years. Simply cutting out all HFCS from my diet easily accomplished this huge improvement in quality of life! In addition, I watch my intake of regular fructose from other sources like fruit.
If you start checking food labels, you will be shocked. Even commercial peanut butter and ketchup contain it. Simply switching to health food store brands will quickly rid it from your life in most cases.
How Much Fructose is Too Much?
A good idea is to limit your intake of fructose from all sources to no more than 15 grams per day. This is about half the amount of total sugar intake per day that can be tolerated without ill effects.
Dr. Richard Johnson MD in The Sugar Fix describes how important it is to limit your fructose intake for health and weight control.
To give you some idea, in a big, ripe banana, you’d get maybe 10 grams of fructose.
So, if you eliminate HFCS in your diet completely and eat no more than 1-2 pieces of fruit a day, that would be a good way to go.
Be aware also that going over the fructose limit of 15 g per day (25 g at the absolute most) can cause a canker sore very quickly. Sometimes, within a few hours, one or more can appear.
When my kids were younger and attended birthday parties, if they had even ONE Capri Sun juice or a half a can of soda they would invariably have a canker sore within a day or two. I trained them very early to only drink water.
Bottom line is that even if you control your fructose intake 99% of the time, consuming a single food loaded with HFCS can cause one of these baddies very fast.
Imagine what incredible damage a high fructose diet is doing to a person’s insides if it can cause an ulcer in the mouth so quickly!
Muna
Pls I have severe canker sores that that usually reoccurring. Pls what’s the best treatment for this thing. The pain is quite excruciating
Carole
I have not had a canker sore in probably 20 years, ever since I stopped using commercial toothpaste with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).
Monica Orosco
I have found eating too many nuts especially PISTACHIOS causes my canker sores. I can immediately tell if I’ve had too many nuts because a canker sore will appear. I never found that sugar was the culprit.
Catryna
An easy remedy to get rid of canker sores is rinsing your mouth with baking soda in water. Also, when eating acidy foods have a chaser of water with a bit of baking soda and that will help to prevent them.
Annette Stancliffe
Thank you for this…haven’t had a canker sore in 30 years but have one now and needed a remedy!
Rebecca Richardson
The young man mentioned in the article, who gets canker sores even down into his throat needs to see a gastroenterologist pronto. This is a classic symptom of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (ulcerstive colitis and Crohns). Those are very serious sutoimmune diseases that cause terrible ulcers a,ong the length of the digestive tract inclyding the mouth and throat. Not all canker sores sre due to minor causes.Such an extreme example should be looked into.
Alexander
Allergy to food cause probems with sores too. Some people have to eat a low suger and corb diet.
Alexander
A combination of anything with oil and fruit or honey gives me a the sores
Sarah
I have to agree with you on this one. Although I believe HFCS is extremely bad for everyone, I don’t think it is the sole culprit to causing canker sores. To also blame diet alone is ridiculous. There are many reasons, stress, hormones, bacteria, and yes diet. Salt, spice and citrus can all play their part….it is not hfcs or sugar alone.