Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Patricia, a 37-year-old mom, college professor and amateur photographer.
The Problem: Patricia had mouth ulcers (otherwise known as canker sores) for seven to ten days out of every month. She described them as “very painful” and they prevented her from eating some of her favourite foods. She had tried everything from rinsing with salt water to various over-the-counter medicines to dull the pain. When she experienced a flare-up she sounded like she had a golf ball in her mouth, which really affected her job as she taught, on average, two to three classes a day.
There are varying causes of mouth ulcers and some of the most common are:
- Food allergies.
- Sodium laurel sulfate: A very common chemical additive in toothpaste that provides the foaming action that many people associate with a clean mouth.
- Stress and physical trauma (ie. Biting your mouth by accident, abrasions from braces, harsh teeth-brushing).
- Lowered immune system.
- Nutritional deficiencies of vitamin C, B12 and zinc.
- Virus: The most common is herpes simplex virus.
- Acidic foods such as coffee, red meat, grains, soda pop, refined and processed foods.
When Patricia came to me she was really at her wit’s end. There is no magic solution, but only a process of eliminating what’s not causing the ulcers.
Solution after the jump
Continue reading Mouth Ulcers, Canker Sores? Cut These From Your Diet