A reader of this blog named PSB, who lives in New Jersey, told me the following:
I’m 52. I happen to like walnuts and was snacking on them and noticed the pain from canker sores was lessened. I kept eating [walnuts] the next couple days and found the sores healed quickly, painlessly and were gone within a few days. They usually take quite a while to go away. The walnut thing was accidental and just from observation noticing the change in the sores. The sores are still gone and although I haven’t been eating lots of walnuts, I usually grab them here and there.
Her daughter “has suffered from canker sores for years . . . [and] gets multiple at a time and they are usually very painful.” Her daughter is resistant to eating walnuts. I asked why. “Doesn’t listen to her mother, knows it all and I sometimes thinks she prefers to complain. Other than that, no real reason, hahaha,” said PSB.
I’ve blogged before (here and here) about canker sores cured by omega-3. Walnuts are high in omega-3, supporting what I said. The Mayo Clinic lists eight possible causes of canker sores, including “A diet lacking in Vitamin B-12, zinc, folate (folic acid) or iron”. Nothing about omega-3.
Walnuts and goat’s cheese make a tasty combination.
Walnuts are also high in omega-6. And didn’t you blog before that walnuts didn’t help your sleep or brain activity, or something? I could be misremembering…
Seth: Right. Eating walnuts did not help me. Nor did it help 3 of my students. In each case, the measurements were brain-related. Perhaps brain-related measurements are more sensitive to omega-6 content than canker sores. It’s also possible that if you begin an experiment high in omega-3, walnuts have a different effect than if you begin low in omega-3.
Walnuts are also a good source of folate, iron and zinc – no B-12. Even though they have the highest level of n-3 than any other nut, they have four times higher omega-6.
However: “Along with omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts contain ellagic acid. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reports that ellagic acid contains antiviral and antibiotic properties and is now found to have anticancer properties as well.” – via Livestrong.
So it could be the antiviral and/or the antibiotic properties at work here. Or a combination of all of the above.
Cheers
I suffer from frequent and painful canker sores. I will give walnuts a try; there is very little available for conventional treatments, and “eating more walnuts” certainly won’t hurt.
Seth: I hope you’ll let me know what happens, either way (helps or doesn’t help).
Haven’t had any canker sores since starting Paleo back in 2011. Used to get them once a month before that.
Seth: When you started paleo, did you increase or decrease or leave unchanged your omega-3 intake?
I have been 3 months in SLD and my jaw just hit the floor.
Since I was a kid I have always suffered of painful canker sores. I’ve been having them all my life…
But now that I’m reading this, I realized I haven’t had any canker sore in my 3 months doing SLD.
I have been taking 4 tablespoons of canola oil a day. I was careful to choose a brand with more omega-3 than others.
I am very impressed and happy
My wife has a bottle of walnut oil in the kitchen. She uses it for salad dressings and when preparing a chicken for roasting.
Suffered for 30 years with canker sores….problem was cow’s milk…eliminated from diet haven’t had a canker sore in a decade. RAST and skin tests were negative for milk allergy/sensitivity FWIW.
I was a chronic sufferer of canker sores since childhood. Four years ago I gave up wheat and have not had one canker sore since.
Canker sores can be treated medically with amlexanox, an anti-inflammatory, which lends support to the approach of addressing the immune system, via anti-inflammatory diets or omega-3 supplementation. And walnuts apparently contain anti-inflammatory compounds in addition to their omega-3s.
>Seth: When you started paleo, did you increase or decrease or leave unchanged your omega-3 intake?
Increased n-3 pretty significantly. Eating about a pound of salmon a week, sardines, some supplementation (LEF Mega EPA/DHA)… about 3-4g/day of n-3 and less than 10g of n-6 according to Chron-o-meter.
Seth: Thanks. Supports more omega-3 –> fewer canker sores idea.
Like others I found my lifelong canker sores (or mouth ulcers as we call them in the UK) stopped when I stopped eating gluten. That was three years ago and the only ones I’ve had since have followed accidental gluten ingestion. Prior to this I was eating a broadly Weston Price style diet (including oily fish and cod liver oil) for several years; if there was any improvement on moving to this from a standard ‘healthy’ western diet it was modest – I wasn’t looking for and don’t recall noticing any significant change.
Are the people who do see improvement from increasing omega-3 actually deficient in omega-3 as such, or do they need more omega-3 to correct an underlying state of inflammation? Are they eating diets generally deficient in omega-3 compared to people who never get canker sores?
Seth: I think as a matter of definition if eating more omega-3 cures canker sores then you were deficient in omega-3. That’s how deficiency is usually defined. I see your point, however, which is that even if omega-3 cures the canker sores there may be other ways to improve matters.
LV wrote;
“Are the people who do see improvement from increasing omega-3 actually deficient in omega-3 as such, or do they need more omega-3 to correct an underlying state of inflammation? ”
I’m sure there are many cases where the underlying inflammation is the cause. Wheat/gluten (or soy) causing trouble is a good example – does any amount of omega 3 make wheat “safe” – probably not.
SO, if you are eating toxins, omega 3 might mitigate some or even all of the effects, but better to remove the toxins first.
Similarly for other deficiencies, like magnesium, or (especially) K2, omega 3 can only do so much.
The current fad where fish oil is being sold as a cure all is, in many cases, simply creating “licensing” behaviour, where people continue to eat badly, but think its OK because they are taking fish oil.
How can you tell which brand of canola has more omega-3′s?
Thanks