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 if that is what you have – not a canker sore.
Unlike cold sores, canker sores are not contagious and are the result of the diet of the sufferer. Even if a canker sore seems to be triggered by something else, say a scrape from a dental appliance like braces, the underlying cause is STILL diet. In other words, if the person had been eating right in the first place, the scrape on the inside of the mouth would not have resulted in a canker sore!
That’s right! What you eat GREATLY affects whether or not you suffer from canker sores.
The Number One Food That Causes Canker Sores
Guess what franken food is the primary cause of canker sores in the Western diet?
That culprit would be high fructose corn syrup also referred to as HFCS.
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 grocery store processed foods is a sitting duck for canker sores because these foods are simply loaded with HFCS as well as plain corn syrup.
This is why eating too much fruit or fruit juice can cause canker sores as well. The sugar in fruit is primarily fructose. It ain’t the acid, folks, although this may be a contributing factor. If acid were the problem, drinking kombucha would also cause canker sores and it doesn’t.
TOO MUCH FRUCTOSE = CANKER SORES
Even agave nectar, touted as a health food, contributes to canker sores. Agave nectar is a scam food – 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 15 years. Why? I have totally cut out HFCS from my diet and I watch my intake of regular fructose from other sources like fruit.
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. 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 15g per day (25g at the absolute most) can cause a canker sore overnight. When my kids attend a birthday party, for example, if they have even ONE Capri Sun juice or 1/2 can of soda they will invariably have a canker sore within a day or two.
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 within hours.
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!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
Fitness Forum!
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.
Allergy to food cause probems with sores too. Some people have to eat a low suger and corb diet.
A combination of anything with oil and fruit or honey gives me a the sores
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.