Q. I have suffered from canker sores most of my life, and those on my tongue are very painful.
A few years ago, a reader told you he got relief from acid reflux by eating jalapenos. I had avoided jalapenos all my life but I gave them a try for heartburn.
The peppers work very well, but the biggest surprise was no more painful canker sores! Nothing else I’ve tried stops them.
If I miss eating at least a couple of peppers a day for just a few days, the sores return. But now, when one does occur it is not very painful and heals quickly if I just get back to eating jalapenos each day. I have eaten these hot peppers many different ways and all work for my acid reflux, but I need to feel some burn in my mouth to keep the canker sores away.
A. Some readers have written about using aloe vera gel, baking soda or buttermilk on canker sores to help them heal faster. Others find that eating kiwi fruit is an effective preventive measure.
We’ve even heard that swishing sauerkraut juice around in the mouth a few times a day can help. But we have not heard before that jalapeno peppers have protective power against canker sores.
